By Elia Esparza

Not many iconic American playwrights, screenwriters, film directors, and actors can say their work motivated the birth of an impenetrable power — the Chicano Movement! Playwright/director Luis Valdez can. Through his work with El Teatro Campesino and his films (La Bamba, Zoot Suit), he has left an indelible mark on the annals of Chicano theater and cinema.

Born into a Mexican migrant family eighty-two years ago, he began working alongside his parents and siblings in the Delano, California agricultural fields at the tender age of six.  His parents moved often following the harvesting work around the central valleys of California. Valdez had no school stability until his parents finally settled in San Jose, California.

In 1965, Valdez formed El Teatro Campesino, a farm workers’ theater troupe. Valdez’s passion for theater and his first-hand knowledge of how much migrant farm workers labored and sacrificed, recognized that it was the perfect time to merge his theatrical productions and his upbringing for maximum exposure and effectiveness. Valdez incorporated all these experiences into “actos”, one-act skits that were originally performed for the farmworkers on truck flatbeds. His “teatro” toured migrant camps with his 15-minute one-act plays, educating and elevating the plight of the farm laborers to the general public. 

Valdez’s storytelling aspirations started as a child in grammar school. He was in the sixth grade when his interest in theatre piqued and soon found himself organizing plays at school and putting on fairy-tale puppet shows in his garage. Valdez graduated from James Lick High School in San Jose and a scholarship for math and physics paved the path for his attending San Jose State University (SJSU). Valdez spent a few months with The San Francisco Mime Troupe where was influenced by agitprop theatre, guerrilla theatre, and Italian Commedia dell’– techniques that greatly influenced Valdez’s development of his basic structure of Chicano theatre with one-act presentations. 

While in college, Valdez won a playwriting contest with his one-act play, The Theft, in 1961. Two years later, Valdez’s first full-length play, The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa, was produced and debuted at SJSU.

Valdez incorporated humor into his plays and his productions were a major tool to lift the morale of farm workers on strike. The social and political commentary picked up by mainstream media expanded the experiences of farm workers and other aspects of the Chicano culture. Valdez was able to bring to the forefront and dispel the Chicano stereotypes. 

Valdez soon took his style and creativity to the screen with his first film directorial, the short I Am Joaquin, a poem by poet, political organizer, and activist Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales in 1969. Next, came a TV documentary short, El Corrido: Ballad of a Farmworker in 1979.

He wrote and directed the seminal hit play Zoot Suit which premiered in 1978 to sold out crowds, a majority first time Latino audiences which ran for a year goers at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and then at the Aquarius Theater in Hollywood. In 1981, Valdez directed the adaptation of the play, which starred Edward James Olmos, Daniel Valdez, Charles Aidman, Lupe Ontiveros, Mike Gomez and many others where reprising their roles from the stage production.  It was a box-office success far exceeding all expectations.

In 1987, Valdez wrote and directed La Bamba which more than a decade, was the most the most successful Latino-themed film at the box-office and critically. It tells the story of the popular Chicano 1950s rock star, Richie Valens who was killed in a plane while on tour. The film starred a very young Lou Diamond Phillips as Richie, Esai Morales, and Rosanna DeSoto as their mom. La Bamba is the mega-hit that brought Valdez to mainstream America. 

Zoot Suit and La Bamba garnered Valdez two Golden Globe Awards nominations, and was awarded a Peabody Award for Excellence in Television for Corridos: Tales of Passion and Revolution for PBS as well as Mexico’s Aguila Azteca Award in 1994.

And for the younger audiences, Luis Valdez is credited on the 2017 Pixar’s computer-animated fantasy film, Coco as a voice actor.

In the United States, it is no surprise why so many Chicanos can relate to, and consider Luis Valdez their modern-day Ernest Hemingway. The power of his plays and films continues to resonate — his words accurately representing nuestra cultura Chicana… Mexican-Americans in the U.S.A., and best of all, Valdez’s films are always cast with many talented Latino cast and crew. 

In commemoration of Luis Valdez contributions to the worlds of theater and cinema the Mexican-American Film and Television Festival (MAF&TF) will recognize Valdez’s contributions to the American theater, film, and television industries with the Illustrious Lifetime Achieve Award on May 21, 2023. Valdez truly encompasses the theme of this year’s festival “Changing the narrative, recognizing who we are” as he is truly a pioneer in writing and directing the stories that gave Mexican-Americans the recognition that was truly deserved.

The Mexican-American Film & Television Festival will screen two of his films, Cisco Kid (1994), a television film which starred Jimmy Smits and Cheech Marin, on Saturday, 6 PM on May 20^th, and Zoot Suit (1981), which was the play that jump started Edward James Olmos’ career, will screen on Sunday, 3 PM on May 21^st. Both films screen at the MAF&TF at the Harmony Gold Theater, located at 7655 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046. For ticket and info, CLICK HERE

Standing ovation for Luis Valdez!

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The 2nd Edition of the Mexican-American Film and Television Festival and Awards will be spotlighting the best in film and television content by Mexican-American/Chicano filmmakers This year MAF&TF will continue its mission of amplifying the voices of Chicano/Mexican-American filmmakers through their projects. This year MAF&TF will recognize one of the most recognizable Chicano filmmakers writer/director Luis Valdez (La Bamba, Zoot Suit) who founded the Teatro Campesino performing for farmworkers. The two-day festival will be held at the Harmony Gold Theater in the heart of Hollywood on Saturday May 20th & Sunday May 21, 2023 11:00am – 9:00pm.

Over 50 projects were selected from 130 filmmakers submissions of features, shorts, documentaries and TV projects from all across the country, with a wide range of stories themes dealing with identity, high school angst, love, animation, relationships, immigrations, marriage and more which will screen in person or streamed virtually over the course of the two days.

According to the 2022 Latino Donor Collaborative Media Report Latinos are rarely depicted on screen despite being avid TV consumers and outspending other racial and ethnic groups in movie ticket purchases. The Mexican-American/Chicano filmmakers (66% of the U.S. Latino population) showing at MAF&TF are writing the stories they want to see on screen as they have mostly been excluded in Hollywood.  

“For over 100 years, Hollywood has, for the most part, ignored the presence and contribution of Mexican-Americans, mostly representing a myopic view of this community as narcos, immigrants, gangbangers and sexualized women,” says Dr. Jose Luiz Ruiz, MACEF president and founder. “This will not change unless we create the change. We need to help change the narrative.  Our festival is the first of its kind in the nation, and we aim for our voice to be heard.”

The capstone of the festival will be the Illustrious Awards ceremony which will take place on Sunday, May 21.

The Mexican-American Film & Television Festival Lifetime Achievement Illustrious Award will be bestowed upon Luis Valdez, an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director.  Valdez is regarded as the father of Chicano film and playwriting, best known for writing and directing the films Zoot Suit and La Bamba, and directing The Cisco Kid.  He is considered a pioneer in the Chicano Movement, broadening the scope of theater and arts of the Chicano community.

The MACEF President Exemplar Award will be awarded to Frank Rodriguez, General Sales Manager Searchlight Pictures.

The festival is also about future projects and will be joined by lead actors Annie Gonzalez and Jesse Garcia for a fireside chat and Q&A about their roles in Eva Longoria’s directorial debut feature Flamin’ Hot, the real life story of Richard Montañez who went from janitor to being credited with creating American’s #1 snack, Flamin’ Hot Cheetoes.

Retrospective Screenings

The two prospective screenings scheduled at MAF&TF were both directed by Luis Valdez, representing the Mexican-American experience in the U.S. Saturday, May 20, 2023:  The TV movie Cisco Kid (1994) starring Cheech Marin and Jimmy Smits will screen at the Harmony Gold venue on Saturday, May 20.  Cheech Marin and other cast members have been invited. Sunday, May 21, 2023: The 1981 feature film Zoot Suit will be screened.  Luis Valdez, along with various cast members of this groundbreaking film will be in attendance.

Invited Guests, Celebrities and Presenters confirmed to date, who will attend the retro screenings and the Illustrious Awards are:  Cheech Marin (Invited), actors Annie Gonzales, Jesse Garcia, Producer Moctezuma Esparza (Selena, Milagro Beanfield War), actor Pepe Serna, Comedian Paul Rodriguez, Writer/Actor Enrique Castillo (Mayans MC, Blood In Blood Out), Actresses Alex Meneses (Telenovela, Walker), Gina Gallego (Days of Our Lives, The Chimiera Effect), actress and KLVE Host Fernanda Kelly, Dean of the UCLA School of Theater Film & Television, Brian Kite, Joel Gonzalez, President of Nosotros and Producer, Brenda Castillo, President of National Hispanic Media Coalition, TV personality Alysha Del Valle.

A panel of entertainment professionals will select the winners of the film festival in twelve categories by a panel of judges that include: Producers Dennis Leoni, Carolyn Caldera de Fanti, Directors Jesus Trevino, Silvia Morales, and Joel Bailey, Actor/Director Enrique Castillo, Actor/Producer Mike Gomez, Composer Sid de la Cruz, Theater Producer/Director Bill Virchis.

Organized by the Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation, The festival will feature eight competition categories: Best Film, Best Director, Best Short Film, Best TV Series, Best Male Actor, Best Female Actress, Best Screenplay For Film, Best Musical, Best Screenplay For TV, The Lifetime Achievement Award, The President’s Award (In Recognition Of Social Justice Efforts), Inspiration Award, 

 Mexican American Cultural Education Foundation’s mission is to change the negative narrative of Americans of Mexican descent by highlighting their stories and their positive contribution to the U.S. For more information about the 2023 MACEF Film Festival, www.MexAmCEF.org.   Tickets for the festival are on sale now at EVENTIVE (https://macef.eventive.org/schedule)

#MacefilmFestival #MexicanAmerican #Chicano

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