SEDONA — The Northern Arizona premiere of “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” comes to Sedona for a one-week run (Sept. 3-10), starting with a screening at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3 as part of the Sedona International Film Festival.
The opening night screening will be followed by a Q&A with director David Alvarado and producer Everett Katigbak. The Sundance audience favorite tells the story of Luis Valdez, the man who built El Teatro Campesino out of the fields of California and turned the figure of the pachuco and the history of the Zoot Suit Riots into influential American stage art.
Narrated by Edward James Olmos in character as El Pachuco, featuring Dolores Huerta. It began on a flatbed truck at the Delano picket lines, with farmworkers performing their own strike, before it ever reached a stage. A Mexican American story on the big screen, brought to Sedona by the festival that keeps this red rock town in love with film.
Against political resistance and industry skepticism, Luis Valdez pushes Chicano storytelling from the fields to the film screen with “Zoot Suit” and “La Bamba,” crafting iconic works that challenge, celebrate, and expand America’s story.
Images courtesy of American Pachuco.
An auteur emerges from America’s underclass: from migrant farmworker to revolutionary artist, Luis Valdez changed American culture. In the 1960s, his El Teatro Campesino performed on flatbed trucks and helped mobilize workers to win the first farmworker union contract.
His “Zoot Suiet” was the first Chicano play on Broadway. Despite critical rejection that killed the show, he persevered, creating “La Bamba” — a breakout blockbuster that authentically depicted Mexican American life to the world.
Now in its 60th year, El Teatro continues to be a beacon for Latino/a creators. This is the story of an artist who gave voice to the overlooked and opened pathways for generations.
The film features Lou Diamond Phillips, Cheech Marin, labor activist Dolores Huerta, Linda Ronstadt, and Edward James Olmos (who narrates the film, reprising the role of “Zoot Suit’s” El Pachuco), the Sedona International Film Festival stated on its website,
“Inventive and engaging.” — The Playlist
“Enlightening and entertaining.” — The Hollywood Reporter
“American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” will be shown at the Mary D. Fisher and Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatres Sept. 3-10. Showtimes will be Thursday, Sept. 3 at 7:00 p.m.; Friday, Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 4, 9 and 10 at 6:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 6, 7 and 8 at 3:30 p.m.
Tickets are $12, or $9 for Film Festival members. For tickets and more information, please call 928-282-1177. Both the theatre and film festival office are located at 2030 W. Hwy. 89A, in West Sedona.
