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The Creation of Chicano Cinema · Locatora Radio [A Radiophonic Novela]

0:00
Speaker 1: I had the chance to talk to Lou Diamond Phillips,
0:02
Speaker 1: which is really exciting. We were just talking about how
0:05
Speaker 1: Lou Diamond Phillips, you know, he played in Richievallens and
0:09
Speaker 1: La Bamba, this icon of Chicano music, this rock star
0:13
Speaker 1: who we love and revere in the.
0:16
Speaker 2: Mexican American community.
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Speaker 1: And although Lou Diamond Phillips is not of Mexican descent,
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Speaker 1: there's not really any pushback from our community against him.
0:25
Speaker 1: And he also played a Mexican American character in Angel
0:30
Speaker 1: in Stand and Deliver, who is also an iconic character
0:33
Speaker 1: in Chicano cinema. And I love that he was there
0:37
Speaker 1: because I think and the film also identifies La Bamba
0:42
Speaker 1: as being his breakout role.
0:44
Speaker 2: He was definitely a.
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Speaker 1: Very very young up and comer when he was cast
0:48
Speaker 1: as Richie Vallens, and his career took off after that film. Ritche,
0:59
Speaker 1: you may know that iconic line from La Bamba, one
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Speaker 1: of the most important pieces of Chicano cinema. But do
1:06
Speaker 1: you know the life, the legend, the legacy of writer
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Speaker 1: and director Louis Valdez. Well, this episode, we are diving
1:14
Speaker 1: in to the life and legacy of Louis Valdez thanks
1:17
Speaker 1: to a brand new documentary that is out now screening
1:20
Speaker 1: all over La called American Patchuco The Legend of Louis Valdez.
1:25
Speaker 3: How long did you practice that, Richie scream?
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Speaker 2: I've I've just always been able to do it.
1:30
Speaker 3: You've always just knew you had it in you.
1:32
Speaker 2: Of course, no practice necessary.
1:34
Speaker 3: Before we dive into today's episode, I'm your host, Theosa
1:39
Speaker 3: and I'm Mala and we are the host of Locat Radio,
1:41
Speaker 3: a radio.
1:43
Speaker 2: Which is just a very extra way of saying.
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Speaker 3: A podcast, and today we are talking about American Batchuko,
1:50
Speaker 3: The Legend of Luis Favez, which is a ground breaking
1:54
Speaker 3: documentary that tells the story of playwright and director Louis Fades.
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Speaker 2: He was the.
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Speaker 3: Founder of El Teetro Campesino and directed Chicano classic cinema
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Speaker 3: such as zoot Suit and La Bamba. And we have
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Speaker 3: been talking about Luis Valdes and Zootsuit plenty now on
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Speaker 3: this podcast, especially in the last couple of episodes.
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Speaker 1: Right we went to the Ford for the forty fifth
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Speaker 1: anniversary screening of zoot Suit and we watched a panel
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Speaker 1: with Edward James Almos, who famously played the Bachuco and
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Speaker 1: Luis Valdez, the writer and director of Zootsuit. And it
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Speaker 1: was at that screening that we learned about this brand
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Speaker 1: new documentary which is all about the life and legacy
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Speaker 1: of writer, director Luis Valdez, who's considered the father of
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Speaker 1: Chicano playwriting and Chicano cinema. So, after we put out
2:43
Speaker 1: our Zootsuit episode, that one of the producers of American Pachuco,
2:47
Speaker 1: Everett Katigbach, he reached out to us and invited us
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Speaker 1: to the premiere of the documentary, directed by David Alvarado
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Speaker 1: at Vidiots. So we're gonna give you a little deep
2:58
Speaker 1: dive into Luis Valdez. You might know his work, but
3:01
Speaker 1: you might not know his story.
3:04
Speaker 3: What many people don't know about Luis Faldez is that
3:06
Speaker 3: before he wrote and directed movies, he was on the
3:09
Speaker 3: ground marching and organizing with the Lodes Wuerta and Cesara
3:13
Speaker 3: Chavis during the Delano grape strike. The documentary goes deep
3:16
Speaker 3: into his origins as a child farm worker who was
3:19
Speaker 3: raised in agricultural labor camps throughout California's Central Valley. He
3:24
Speaker 3: also founded El Teatro Campesino. As a child, he found
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Speaker 3: his love of theater and storytelling, a passion that would
3:30
Speaker 3: become a calling.
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Speaker 1: A couple weeks ago, I had the great fortune, the
3:34
Speaker 1: great opportunity to attend the premiere of American Pachuco at
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Speaker 1: Vidiots in El Rock. I was able to work the
3:41
Speaker 1: red carpet and conduct some interviews with incredible, incredible, incredible
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Speaker 1: icons of movies, of art of cinema. Everybody was there,
3:50
Speaker 1: I mean everybody was there to celebrate Louis Valdez and
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Speaker 1: this new documentary. Delores Wedditta was in attendance. Edward James
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Speaker 1: almost was in attendance. Lou Diamond, Phillips was there.
4:00
Speaker 2: Amazing. I freaked out, of course, Lou Lou is here.
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Speaker 1: Wow right, and not only Lou, but Esai Morales iconic.
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Speaker 1: I mean, can you even I can't. I was texting
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Speaker 1: every time I saw someone walk through the doors. I'm like,
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Speaker 1: Lou time in Phillips's here, the yeah, Esai is here.
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Speaker 2: I was getting a play by play.
4:18
Speaker 3: It was incredible.
4:20
Speaker 2: It was so cool. And Jimmy Smits was also there.
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Speaker 3: So handsome, yes, so talented yes.
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Speaker 1: And all of these actors, all these men still have
4:29
Speaker 1: all of their hair and they look great, and they
4:33
Speaker 1: were very just. I didn't get a chance to talk
4:35
Speaker 1: to Jimmy Smit's, but I did speak to Lou, I
4:37
Speaker 1: spoke to I, I spoke to Dolores and Edward of course,
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Speaker 1: who we've had the chance to interview in the past
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Speaker 1: at the Mine Awards. He always makes himself very available
4:47
Speaker 1: and it was just really cool. I also interviewed Eduardo Arenas,
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Speaker 1: who is the guitarist, bassist and vocalist of Chicano Batman,
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Speaker 1: because he did the score for the documentary American Pachuko,
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Speaker 1: so it was like the who's who of Chicano cinema.
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Speaker 1: Even though famously Lou Diamond Phillips he played Richie Vallens
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Speaker 1: in La Bamba, but Lou Diamond Phillips is not Chicano.
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Speaker 1: He's half white, half Filipino. And in the American Bachuco documentary,
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Speaker 1: Louis Faldez talks about the audition process for finding his
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Speaker 1: Richie Valens, and it was just really interesting how he
5:23
Speaker 1: was able to sort of connect Lou Diamond Phillips and
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Speaker 1: his like bicultural heritage to Richie Valens as being someone
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Speaker 1: who is a was a Mesthiso, Mexican American, and the
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Speaker 1: way that he kind of found commonality in that sort
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Speaker 1: of heritage between the two of them.
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Speaker 3: Well, I mean famously, you know. I think within the community,
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Speaker 3: like Mexican specifically refer to Filipinos as like arbritmos.
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Speaker 2: Yes, you know.
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Speaker 3: And so I don't know what it was like back
5:50
Speaker 3: then the reception to lou Diamond Phillips playing Richie, But
5:54
Speaker 3: I know now like he is revered as like an
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Speaker 3: icon who played Richie Vallens, And I don't hear that
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Speaker 3: type of chatter of it should have been a Mexican actor.
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Speaker 3: Maybe that was the reception at the time. I'm not sure,
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Speaker 3: but I think now like there's there's a lot of
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Speaker 3: like love and solidarity within like Filipino Mexican communities.
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Speaker 2: That is very true.
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Speaker 1: And this point also came up when I spoke to
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Speaker 1: producer Everett Katigbach, who is Filipino and he produced American Pachuco.
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Speaker 1: And so much of the story of Louis Feldez and
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Speaker 1: the story of Chicano cinema started with the farm workers
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Speaker 1: movement and the Delano grape strike. Because you know, Delores Wett, Dass,
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Speaker 1: Caesar Chavez other organizers are like scouring the Central Valley,
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Speaker 1: scouring the country, organizing, recruiting farm workers and laborers to
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Speaker 1: join the movement to strike against grapes and to form
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Speaker 1: a union that will protect the rights and the labor
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Speaker 1: of farm workers. And in the course of that movement,
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Speaker 1: Louis Feldez, who was a farm worker as a child.
7:00
Speaker 1: He was born to migrant labors. Luis Valdez is one
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Speaker 1: of ten children. He and all of his siblings worked
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Speaker 1: in the fields as kids, and he approached Delores Werta
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Speaker 1: and Caesar Chavez. This is all covered in the documentary
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Speaker 1: right as he's telling his own story. He approached them
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Speaker 1: as a young man, as a young playwright, and asked them, hey,
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Speaker 1: can I start a theater as part of this movement?
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Speaker 1: Can I start a farm workers theater? And in his
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Speaker 1: own retelling of the story, Delores Wertha was very supportive.
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Speaker 1: Caesar Traves was not quite as supportive.
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Speaker 2: Interesting, yes, Caesar Travez was very hesitant. He didn't like
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Speaker 2: the idea.
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Speaker 1: At some point he wanted them to stop, and he
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Speaker 1: didn't like the theatro that they were building.
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Speaker 2: So maybe in your cheek on.
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Speaker 1: His studies classes, you've heard of elt Theiatro Campecino.
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Speaker 2: This is how it began.
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Speaker 1: Is literally like on the picket line and in the fields,
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Speaker 1: and it was a way for Luis Valdez to put
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Speaker 1: on theater for the people, by the people, but also
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Speaker 1: to spread the word of the farm workers movement in
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Speaker 1: a way that incorporated storytelling, artistry, and humor. And it
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Speaker 1: took off, and they started touring even after the farm
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Speaker 1: Workers Movement sort of like asked them to stop. And
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Speaker 1: he took that experience and just grew his like theatrical repertoire,
8:29
Speaker 1: and eventually.
8:30
Speaker 2: He wrote zoot Suit as a stage play.
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Speaker 1: And so I didn't really understand that history until I
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Speaker 1: sat down and watched the documentary American Patchuko. And so
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Speaker 1: the producer, Everett is a Filipino descent, and I asked him,
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Speaker 1: you know, how did you come to be involved and
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Speaker 1: why was this story an important story for you to tell?
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Speaker 1: And for him, it's because of his own interest in
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Speaker 1: backstory and his own heritage as a Filipino America and
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Speaker 1: understanding the intersectionality of Filipinos and the United farm Workers Movement.
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Speaker 1: And this also came up in the documentary with the
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Speaker 1: history of Larry Itlong and all of the Filipino folks
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Speaker 1: who were picking and growing and working alongside Mexicans in
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Speaker 1: the Central Valley.
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Speaker 3: In the last several weeks, I saw members of Larry
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Speaker 3: Iolong's family talking about how he's like the forgotten leader
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Speaker 3: of the farm workers movement and how he really laid
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Speaker 3: the foundation for what Donorserta and Sasata Chavis did with
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Speaker 3: the United farm Workers Movement, and how they want do
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Speaker 3: for his story, and they want his name to be
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Speaker 3: known for his movement, for his role in the movement
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Speaker 3: as well.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and so it was it was good to see that.
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Speaker 1: Larry Itlong and the Filipino community were very much acknowledged
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Speaker 1: in this documentary in the telling of Luis Feldez, his
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Speaker 1: own story and how it intertwines with that of Dolores
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Speaker 1: Caesar Chavez and the farm workers movement. So Dolores was
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Speaker 1: there at the premiere, she was on the red carpet.
10:08
Speaker 1: She is still doing appearances, she is still doing events,
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Speaker 1: she's still doing talks, and I had the chance to
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Speaker 1: interview her. And of course, over the course of the
10:17
Speaker 1: past year, her name has come up on a national
10:21
Speaker 1: scale because she is one of several people who have
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Speaker 1: come forward to talk about Caesar Chavez and his abuses
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Speaker 1: against women and girls in the farm workers movement, and
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Speaker 1: she spoke about herself as a survivor of assault at
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Speaker 1: the hands of Caesar Chavez, and I wanted to sort
10:42
Speaker 1: of ask her about it without asking her about it
10:44
Speaker 1: at the premiere, So when I had a chance to
10:47
Speaker 1: speak to her, I asked her how we can discern
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Speaker 1: when to celebrate a powerful man like we were doing
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Speaker 1: that day, celebrating Louis Faldez and his legacy, and when
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Speaker 1: when do we question a powerful man?
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Speaker 2: How do we make that distinction?
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Speaker 1: And here's what she had to say, Hi, I am
11:08
Speaker 1: so good.
11:09
Speaker 2: It is an honor to meet you.
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Speaker 1: My family is from Bakersfield, from Kern County, and so
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Speaker 1: of course I grew up hearing all about you and
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Speaker 1: your work and as a chikana, you are just a
11:20
Speaker 1: seminal figure in our history. And a question that I
11:24
Speaker 1: have for you today we're celebrating a great man, Louis
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Speaker 1: Faldez and his work. When do we know when a
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Speaker 1: great man is to be celebrated and when a man
11:33
Speaker 1: we consider great maybe.
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Speaker 2: Needs to be questioned. How do we make that distinction?
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Speaker 4: Well, I think the fact that we want to question
11:46
Speaker 4: everyone is good. I think always you know, but I
11:51
Speaker 4: think we have people like Liu will this when you
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Speaker 4: have these creators, these artists that are able to bring
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Speaker 4: so much to the public, you know, so much historical context,
12:03
Speaker 4: but also to be able to present us in a
12:07
Speaker 4: way that people will not only learn, but they'll also
12:11
Speaker 4: enjoy in the in the learning process because it's entertaining.
12:16
Speaker 4: So it's educational, it's entertaining at the same time.
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Speaker 5: And so I think people like Muzadas are very uh
12:24
Speaker 5: might say, in our society, as we know, our artists
12:29
Speaker 5: are very blessed people because they have gifts that all
12:32
Speaker 5: of us just have to just re say, how do
12:36
Speaker 5: how do they do this?
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Speaker 4: Okay, but uh, we definitely have to honor them.
12:41
Speaker 2: We have to honor them and.
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Speaker 4: And give them the space to bring their creations more
12:45
Speaker 4: forward so that the public can enjoy them.
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Speaker 1: So after I spoke with Dolores, I had the chance
12:52
Speaker 1: to talk to Lou Diamond Phillips, which is really exciting.
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Speaker 1: We were just talking about how Lou Diamond Phillips, you know,
12:58
Speaker 1: he played in Richie Allens in La Bamba, this icon
13:03
Speaker 1: of Chicano music, this rock star who we love and
13:06
Speaker 1: revere in the Mexican American community, and although Lou Diamond
13:10
Speaker 1: Phillips is not of Mexican descent, there's not really any
13:14
Speaker 1: pushback from our community against him. And he also played
13:18
Speaker 1: a Mexican American character in Angel in Stand and Deliver,
13:23
Speaker 1: who is also an iconic character in Chicano cinema. And
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Speaker 1: I love that he was there because I think and
13:31
Speaker 1: the film also identifies La Bamba as being his breakout role.
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Speaker 2: He was definitely a.
13:37
Speaker 1: Very very young up and comer when he was cast
13:40
Speaker 1: as Richie Vallens, and his career took off after that film,
13:45
Speaker 1: and I think that's true for several actors who starred
13:49
Speaker 1: in Luis Feldez films. Edward James almost his career took
13:53
Speaker 1: off after zoot Suit, Lou Diamond Phillips his career took off.
13:56
Speaker 1: Issie Morales, who played Bob in LaBamba, his career took off.
14:00
Speaker 1: And it was just really awesome to see them there
14:03
Speaker 1: honoring this man who basically put them on the map.
14:08
Speaker 1: And so because Lou Diamond Phillips had this breakout role
14:12
Speaker 1: in LaBamba, I was curious to know his thoughts.
14:16
Speaker 3: Don't know any where Logo is. We'll be right back.
14:22
Speaker 2: About what story he thinks should be told on the
14:25
Speaker 2: big screen.
14:26
Speaker 1: Next, whose story should be spotlighted?
14:29
Speaker 2: Who has not had their story told? And here's what
14:32
Speaker 2: he shared.
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Speaker 1: You've played some iconic roles, from Richie Allen's to that
14:36
Speaker 1: young student in Stand and Deliver Angel. Yes, so can
14:40
Speaker 1: you tell me who do you think is the next
14:42
Speaker 1: figure in American history who can have that type of
14:46
Speaker 1: impact on the screen.
14:48
Speaker 6: Wow, that's a very good question, you know. I mean,
14:51
Speaker 6: I think we're seeing some people rise to the occasion now,
14:58
Speaker 6: mostly in the world of politics. You know, I'm interested
15:02
Speaker 6: to see what AOC does.
15:04
Speaker 7: You know.
15:04
Speaker 6: I think she's inspirational. I think she's got her heart
15:07
Speaker 6: and her mind in the right place. But I mean,
15:10
Speaker 6: as far as movie treatments go, it's like who who
15:12
Speaker 6: you know deserves to be elevated to that to that level? Yeah,
15:21
Speaker 6: I mean Louis obviously, And I think this documentary, forty
15:24
Speaker 6: years after the fact, is finally celebrating him when he
15:27
Speaker 6: should have been celebrated even more back in eighty seven
15:31
Speaker 6: when he you know, kicked down the door and broke
15:33
Speaker 6: down the walls, you know. And the fact that the
15:36
Speaker 6: movie is perennial and evergreen today, you know, I'm glad
15:42
Speaker 6: that this movie, you know, has been made. And that's
15:44
Speaker 6: the thing too, is I mean, you know, the documentary
15:48
Speaker 6: form is a great way to sort of elevate somebody.
15:51
Speaker 6: When you're looking at a lot of biopictures, a lot
15:54
Speaker 6: of musical biopics and whatnot. There's more coming, you know, along,
15:58
Speaker 6: it's hard to say who should be an anointed with
16:00
Speaker 6: that kind of you know, that kind of special treatment.
16:04
Speaker 1: Next, I was super excited for the chance to interview
16:08
Speaker 1: Esi Morales, who played Bob Richie Allen's brother in La Bamba.
16:12
Speaker 1: And I actually did not realize this until after the premiere,
16:15
Speaker 1: but Esi Morales is not Mexican American.
16:18
Speaker 2: He's Puerto Rican.
16:20
Speaker 1: And I guess, like he just played a Chicano so well,
16:23
Speaker 1: like Bob is like obviously Mexican, obviously Chicano, like like
16:28
Speaker 1: no one has ever been more Chicano than Bob.
16:30
Speaker 3: He embodied that role so well.
16:32
Speaker 2: He embodies it so well.
16:34
Speaker 1: And it was funny because in the in the recording,
16:38
Speaker 1: in the interview, he uses like us, we and chicano
16:44
Speaker 1: like in his responses to me, and he's like including
16:48
Speaker 1: himself and talking about like our stories us as Chicano's
16:53
Speaker 1: we and our community, and it was just really interesting.
16:58
Speaker 3: I love that because I feel like, like og Chicano
17:01
Speaker 3: scholars will tell you that a Chicano identity is so
17:05
Speaker 3: political that you don't actually have to be Mexican American
17:08
Speaker 3: to be Chicano. So I love that that he's including
17:11
Speaker 3: himself in the wei of it all.
17:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he's tapped into that, into that history,
17:16
Speaker 1: into that legacy. I think that there are some folks
17:19
Speaker 1: who might like nitpick at that, of course, and whom
17:22
Speaker 1: I like, you know, grasp at straws and say like, oh,
17:27
Speaker 1: like someone who is not Mexican playing a Mexican character
17:32
Speaker 1: is somehow like benefiting from like those ties to the community.
17:38
Speaker 1: But I think that he's another example of somebody who
17:40
Speaker 1: did such a great job in his work that the
17:43
Speaker 1: community has embraced him and like totally accepts him and
17:48
Speaker 1: the role that he played. So for me, I also
17:51
Speaker 1: think of Bob and La Bamba as like the ultimate
17:55
Speaker 1: anti hero character. You want to love him, and there's
17:59
Speaker 1: so many things to love about him, but he's also
18:02
Speaker 1: kind of so awful as a person and in his
18:05
Speaker 1: behaviors that you want him to do better. So I
18:10
Speaker 1: asked Esi how he went about preparing for that role
18:16
Speaker 1: and playing such a complex character with dignity and with
18:21
Speaker 1: layers and levels.
18:22
Speaker 2: And here's what he had to say.
18:24
Speaker 1: A character that I think is one of the greatest
18:26
Speaker 1: anti heroes in cinema history.
18:28
Speaker 2: Bob in La Bambab. How do you go.
18:31
Speaker 1: About giving a flawed character like Bob humanity, complexity, heart
18:36
Speaker 1: and honoring his life in such a way that he's
18:40
Speaker 1: not flat on screen.
18:42
Speaker 8: Well, I'm very blessed that I did incredible research with
18:48
Speaker 8: a character who very much liked. Bob isn't perfect, and
18:51
Speaker 8: I had to find him in the mirror. So I
18:55
Speaker 8: use my own flaws and I find where they match
19:00
Speaker 8: is And it's about creating a character that is specific, identifiable,
19:06
Speaker 8: universal all at the same time. How you just it's instinct.
19:11
Speaker 8: You listen to to see what sounds like reality, what
19:14
Speaker 8: you know, you rehearse. I met the real Bob. That
19:18
Speaker 8: was extremely helpful. You know, I had my instincts, but
19:22
Speaker 8: meeting the real Bob grounded me in the character in
19:26
Speaker 8: his specific chicanism with a little head tilt when he
19:29
Speaker 8: sees his brother like that ike. You know, there are
19:32
Speaker 8: certain things that I learned just from hanging out having
19:36
Speaker 8: a beer with Bob and hearing old stars and hearing
19:39
Speaker 8: how he spoke and his kind of a Mexican American like.
19:46
Speaker 2: Brogue. It's not and it's not all American.
19:51
Speaker 8: It's that fusion that makes Chicanos very unique and world renown.
19:55
Speaker 1: The last person that I had the chance to interview
19:58
Speaker 1: is Eduardeau Aren't who is the bassis guitar player and
20:02
Speaker 1: vocalist for Chicano Batman, which is an iconic group on
20:07
Speaker 1: its own.
20:08
Speaker 2: He actually scored.
20:09
Speaker 1: The film American Bachuco, which is really cool to see
20:12
Speaker 1: that overlap and intersection. So I asked him, as an
20:17
Speaker 1: icon himself, how it felt to be part of this
20:20
Speaker 1: multi generational project that's going all the way back to
20:25
Speaker 1: Louis Faldez and the actors that I just described and
20:29
Speaker 1: now his role in creating this documentary. And here's what
20:33
Speaker 1: he shared. I'm Mala Munios for a look at THOTR Radio.
20:35
Speaker 1: Can you introduce yourself and tell me about your role
20:38
Speaker 1: on the film American Pachuco.
20:40
Speaker 7: My name is and I am the composer for American
20:44
Speaker 7: Bachuco and it's been quite an honor and yeah, that's
20:48
Speaker 7: doing the score, original score for the for the documentary.
20:50
Speaker 1: And what was the process like for you creatively to
20:53
Speaker 1: come up with the score that fit the story and
20:56
Speaker 1: the figure at the center of it, Luis Feldez.
20:59
Speaker 7: First, you get rejected about a thousand times, but the
21:03
Speaker 7: producer and the directors until you find the right emotion.
21:08
Speaker 7: And then once you find the right emotion, it's kind
21:10
Speaker 7: of like you kind of just go. You kind of
21:12
Speaker 7: just go, and there's a certain rhythm once you lock in.
21:15
Speaker 7: For me, it was emotional. So I had to look
21:18
Speaker 7: at their eyes because it's America, Pachuko, it's like Latino,
21:22
Speaker 7: and but I'm also Latino. But I'm not trying to
21:25
Speaker 7: be known, Like I'm not doing corridos, I'm not doing Kumbia,
21:28
Speaker 7: I'm not doing that. What I'm doing is emotion. I'm
21:30
Speaker 7: doing like an emotional arc for a history of like,
21:34
Speaker 7: you know, like our emotions are not brown, they're not white,
21:36
Speaker 7: they're not pink. You know, they are just emotion. And
21:38
Speaker 7: it was my job to get that, get that out
21:41
Speaker 7: of the characters.
21:42
Speaker 9: In the movie.
21:43
Speaker 1: And you are a member of an iconic Chicano musical group,
21:47
Speaker 1: Chicano Batman, So like tell me about merging those two
21:50
Speaker 1: worlds Louis Feldez, zoot Suit, Chicano Batman, different eras, different decades,
21:57
Speaker 1: but now coming together to work on one project.
21:59
Speaker 7: Well, it was awesome because when we were at Sundance,
22:02
Speaker 7: I was on a panel with Louis Valdez and Edward
22:04
Speaker 7: James almost myself, and I mean, it's honestly means a
22:08
Speaker 7: lot more than I can understand, to be honest, because
22:10
Speaker 7: when I was a little kid, I was in the
22:12
Speaker 7: High Mescalanta program me too.
22:14
Speaker 2: At eLAC and so was he in the summers.
22:18
Speaker 7: So then Culture Clash they did a presentation there, and
22:21
Speaker 7: then I was like, you know, I just did a
22:24
Speaker 7: show with Culture Clash at the Grand Performances Plaza. But then,
22:27
Speaker 7: you know, if it weren't for Louisvaldez and the Death
22:29
Speaker 7: or Capasino, then the Culture Clash will not exist, you
22:32
Speaker 7: know what I'm saying. So but then I'm on the
22:35
Speaker 7: red carpet of whether at Sundance with Edward James almost
22:38
Speaker 7: and New Diamond Phillip take a pictures and I'm like, hey, guys,
22:40
Speaker 7: you have no idea, but this is I just composed
22:43
Speaker 7: a score to you guys in a movie, and I
22:45
Speaker 7: was like, you guys literally inspired. And then and then
22:48
Speaker 7: they're like, there are no coincidences in life, and I
22:50
Speaker 7: was like, thank you.
22:51
Speaker 2: I understand that I'm where.
22:52
Speaker 7: I need to be. So it's basically chole and believing
22:55
Speaker 7: in yourself and actually creating your own path, you know,
22:58
Speaker 7: not your parents' path, not society's path, not the American dream,
23:02
Speaker 7: you know, following your own frequency. I've been just doing
23:05
Speaker 7: that for a long time, you know. I went to
23:07
Speaker 7: school and I did that, but I just kept following music,
23:09
Speaker 7: following your own frequency. Leasy too, Moments that you grandiose,
23:12
Speaker 7: moments that you won't believe. And I think that's kind
23:15
Speaker 7: of the big lesson in all of those, this whole experience.
23:18
Speaker 1: Finally, I spoke to the filmmakers behind American bachuco producer
23:23
Speaker 1: Everett Katigbach and I asked him how it felt to
23:27
Speaker 1: be part of this documentary, his own role in the process,
23:31
Speaker 1: and why he thinks it's important to tell this Filipino
23:35
Speaker 1: history alongside this Chicano history.
23:38
Speaker 2: And here's what he shared.
23:39
Speaker 9: I mean, there's so much shared history with Filipinos in
23:42
Speaker 9: the Philippines, you know, through Spanish colonization and a lot
23:46
Speaker 9: of just historic, you know, trade routes between the Philippines
23:50
Speaker 9: and Mexico, and at one point, I think the Philippines
23:53
Speaker 9: was technically considered a province of Mexico. That's deep history stuff.
23:58
Speaker 9: But you know, Philippine Americans on the farm lines, on
24:02
Speaker 9: the fields of Delano, they work hand in hand, you know,
24:06
Speaker 9: in a strange way, because farm workers at the time
24:09
Speaker 9: kind of kept them segregated and tried to keep them
24:12
Speaker 9: working against each other. But I think the farm workers
24:14
Speaker 9: fought really hard to stay united, which hence turned into
24:18
Speaker 9: the United farm Workers when the Filipinos and the Chicano
24:21
Speaker 9: farm workers merged together. And I think that's like a
24:24
Speaker 9: part of history that a lot of people don't really
24:26
Speaker 9: see because they the United farm Workers logo and all
24:30
Speaker 9: that such as strong Mexican, strong Chicano identity, But it
24:33
Speaker 9: really was about the union between the Filipino farm workers
24:36
Speaker 9: and the Mexican farm workers. Other things as like zutsu riots.
24:40
Speaker 9: There's a lot of pachucos that were Filipino zoot suitors.
24:44
Speaker 9: I mean a lot of the riots happened in Little Manila,
24:47
Speaker 9: in downtown LA So, you know, it's just kind of
24:50
Speaker 9: all overlapping it at the same time.
24:52
Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
24:53
Speaker 1: Lastly, I caught up with American Pachuco director David Alvarado.
24:59
Speaker 3: Don't go anywhere, Luka Modes will be right back.
25:04
Speaker 1: And I was very curious to know why he thinks
25:07
Speaker 1: Louise Faldez, after all these years, chose to tell his
25:11
Speaker 1: story in this way with this team of filmmakers.
25:15
Speaker 2: And here's here are his thoughts.
25:16
Speaker 10: We've shown this film to sun Dance, to New York City,
25:19
Speaker 10: has had incredible responses from audiences, but there's nothing more
25:24
Speaker 10: important than Los Angeles for this film. The heart of
25:27
Speaker 10: the and the birthplace of the Pachuco is right here
25:30
Speaker 10: in Los Angeles. So I just can't wait to share
25:32
Speaker 10: it with everybody here.
25:33
Speaker 1: And what was the process like introducing the idea of
25:36
Speaker 1: making this film about Louis Feldez to Louis Faldez himself.
25:40
Speaker 2: How did he receive the idea? How did he respond?
25:42
Speaker 10: Well, I had a sense that he might remember me.
25:46
Speaker 10: I met him when I was twenty one.
25:49
Speaker 2: He says that he did remember me, but.
25:50
Speaker 10: I don't believe him truly. I think I think I
25:52
Speaker 10: was just one of ten thousand kids that he's inspired.
25:55
Speaker 10: When he went from college to college telling his life story.
25:58
Speaker 10: I heard one of those speeches and I was so
26:01
Speaker 10: moved by it.
26:01
Speaker 2: I had to speak to him that night.
26:03
Speaker 10: And my whole film career is really owed to him
26:07
Speaker 10: and his inspiration. And so years later, I guess this
26:10
Speaker 10: was like fifteen years later, I reached out to him
26:12
Speaker 10: and said, why is there not a documentary about you
26:15
Speaker 10: and your life?
26:16
Speaker 2: And so that.
26:16
Speaker 10: Began our conversations, and I'm so grateful he gave.
26:19
Speaker 2: Me the opportunity.
26:20
Speaker 3: If you have not had a chance to watch American
26:23
Speaker 3: Pachuco The Legend of Luis Valdez, there is still time.
26:27
Speaker 3: This is a self funded premiere and theatrical release, which
26:32
Speaker 3: means they need us, our community, our family to go
26:37
Speaker 3: out and watch the film. They also have a Kickstarter
26:41
Speaker 3: campaign if you want to contribute. This is one of
26:43
Speaker 3: those moments where we have to like reflect on the
26:47
Speaker 3: fact that as a community, we're very critical of the
26:49
Speaker 3: fact that there aren't enough of Chicano films, Latino films
26:52
Speaker 3: in theater. There's not enough cast and crew who are
26:55
Speaker 3: Latino or Chicano, and we have to really seize this moment,
27:00
Speaker 3: show up if we're critical of it and then we're
27:02
Speaker 3: not showing up to watch it.
27:05
Speaker 2: You know, you have to show up.
27:07
Speaker 3: We have to do it. We have to be there,
27:08
Speaker 3: we have to take our family members, we have to
27:10
Speaker 3: tell everybody about it, and like really, you know, put
27:13
Speaker 3: our dollars like where we say we want them to go.
27:15
Speaker 3: And so this is an opportunity for all of us
27:17
Speaker 3: to show up to watch the film and contribute to
27:20
Speaker 3: the Kickstarter campaign.
27:22
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I also think it's a moment to do for
27:27
Speaker 1: one of like the greats in our community. What I
27:30
Speaker 1: see happening for like the Spielbergs and the Scorsese's, you know,
27:34
Speaker 1: there's a lot of celebration of their body of work
27:37
Speaker 1: and of their legacy. But I have not seen such
27:40
Speaker 1: a celebration for someone in our own community who has
27:44
Speaker 1: been creating cinema and theater for so many years. I
27:49
Speaker 1: don't think that most people who love La Bamba know
27:54
Speaker 1: this history of the writer, director and who made it
27:57
Speaker 1: all happen, or if you're a fan of these actors,
28:00
Speaker 1: you might not know that this is where they got
28:02
Speaker 1: their start in works written and directed by Luis Feldez.
28:06
Speaker 1: So it's also a way, I think to elevate our
28:10
Speaker 1: artists to the level that they deserve to be elevated
28:14
Speaker 1: again like a George Lucas or Steven Spielberg. These are
28:18
Speaker 1: like works of art that are enduring and generational. And
28:23
Speaker 1: I think most Latino households have probably seen La Bamba
28:28
Speaker 1: or have a DVD of it somewhere in the house, right,
28:30
Speaker 1: So I think that that's really incredible, and there's only
28:34
Speaker 1: so many movies that like reach that status in the community.
28:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, And it's interesting that you bring that up because
28:41
Speaker 3: when we were talking about producing this, I was thinking, like,
28:44
Speaker 3: when was the first time I saw LaBamba? And it
28:46
Speaker 3: was with my brother, you know, And it is that
28:48
Speaker 3: multi generational experience of sharing it with your siblings or
28:53
Speaker 3: your parents or your grandparents, And it's one of those
28:57
Speaker 3: examples of I can remember when I first saw it,
28:59
Speaker 3: I remember who introduced me to this film, and it is,
29:03
Speaker 3: I think, and also going along with what you're saying,
29:06
Speaker 3: an opportunity to give flowers to our icons while they're
29:10
Speaker 3: still here and really give them the stature that they
29:15
Speaker 3: do deserve that they may not be getting from a
29:18
Speaker 3: broader Hollywood, but within our community, we have the opportunity
29:22
Speaker 3: to do that here.
29:23
Speaker 1: Very much, so very much so, and I think it's
29:26
Speaker 1: also something that allows for learning, like in a curriculum.
29:32
Speaker 1: The documentary when I was watching it, to me, it
29:36
Speaker 1: reads is something that not only could win an OSCAR.
29:38
Speaker 2: I mean it won the.
29:40
Speaker 1: Festival Award and Audience Favorite at sun Dance, and I
29:44
Speaker 1: think that it could be an OSCAR winning documentary, that's
29:47
Speaker 1: just how powerful and beautifully.
29:49
Speaker 2: Done it is.
29:50
Speaker 1: But I can see it being an enduring part of
29:53
Speaker 1: like a Mexican American or Chicano studies history curriculum. It's
29:58
Speaker 1: definitely also a teaching film as well as like just
30:04
Speaker 1: a beautiful and creative watch. So I think that's also
30:07
Speaker 1: why things like this are important, because it's adding to
30:11
Speaker 1: the canon, but it's adding to the curriculum.
30:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think at this point it's really important
30:17
Speaker 3: for us. I'm glad you brought up canon because it's
30:19
Speaker 3: what I was going to say next, is it's really
30:22
Speaker 3: important for us to have our own canon. You know,
30:24
Speaker 3: oftentimes our films, our books, our media is left out
30:29
Speaker 3: of the broader canon, and so for us to really
30:32
Speaker 3: establish our own and consider like what goes in our canon,
30:35
Speaker 3: like as Latino media, Chicano media, and of course this
30:40
Speaker 3: would be included in that as well.
30:41
Speaker 1: So check out American Pachuco, The Legend of Luis Valdez,
30:45
Speaker 1: directed by David Alvarado, and check out the Kickstarter campaign,
30:49
Speaker 1: Go to a screening and support the film.
30:51
Speaker 3: All right, this is another Capitolo of radio. We'll catch
30:55
Speaker 3: you next time, Bessifa lo