National Hispanic Heritage Month: Sept 15 - Oct 15: Movies

Tradition holds back the youngest of three Mexican daughters from marrying the man that she loves. In an attempt to stay closer together, her beloved marries the young woman's sister and it is then that a magical and unique secret is discovered through her cooking.

Edward James Olmos stars as Jaime Escalante in this inspirational true story about a teacher and the unmotivated East Los Angeles high school students who he inspires, badgers, threatens and humors into learning the most demanding of all math sciences--calculus. But the accomplishment is so utterly fantastic that the students are accused of cheating. Given a choice to accept the allegation or retake an extremely demanding examination to prove themselves, the students decide to Stand And Deliver.

A boy named Miguel dreams of becoming a famous guitar player, despite the misgivings of his close-knit family. When his lofty ambitions cause him to run afoul of a curse, he must journey into the Land of the Dead to seek forgiveness from his ancestors.

Rival New York street gangs war in Manhattan over turf boundaries while two youths fall in love, but they are from opposing groups.

Luis Valdez tailored his play about a 1942 murder trial involving Chicanos. Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos, Charles Aidman, Tyne Daly. Judge: John Anderson.

This film provides a clear-eyed view into the lives of contemporary Mexican American migrants and their struggles to educate their children while obtaining employment. Centered on the life of Liliana, a daughter entering her first year of high school, the film follows the back-and-forth movement of her family between their home in the Texas borderland and the California agricultural fields. Despite the best efforts of school systems to accommodate students like Liliana, the social and emotional life of this young woman is constantly in flux.

Shedding light on the current debate over immigration reform and the use of "guest workers" in American agriculture, this historical documentary examines what was known as the Bracero Program - a system put in place from 1942 to 1964 to recruit Mexican farm laborers for temporary work in the United States. The film presents ample testimony from surviving braceros as well as family members and descendants of these displaced workers, who typically went north expecting not just high wages but also humane treatment and working conditions - expectations that were rarely if ever met. Featured experts include Mexican activist and politician Victor Quintana, Bracero Program in California author Henry Anderson, and several others. Extensive archival material is also included.

The story of Mexican immigrant women who were pushed into sterilization while giving birth at L.A. County hospital during the 1970s. Alongside intrepid young Chicana/o lawyers and a whistle-blowing doctor, the mothers stood up to powerful institutions in the name of justice.

A mosaic of vignettes about the everyday struggles of those who work and live in the borderlands separating Mexico and America. Purgatorio is a surreal journey through this no-man's-land. Women dressed as angels walk the streets, urging people to seek God, while many look for salvation elsewhere: drugs, crime or across the border in the fabled land of hope. A provocative portrayal of the brutal beauty that is the US-Mexico border.

In 1943, Gonzalo Méndez sued the Westminster School District of Orange County, California in order to end segregation in the public schools. This court case set an important legal precedent for ending segregation in the United States. Interviews Sylvia Mendez, Sandra Mendez Duran, Felicitas Mendez. Professor Gilbert Gonzalez from the University of California, Irvine is also interviewed.

Presents Mexican customs relating to the care and remembrance of the dead as celebrated in the culturally rich state of Puebla. Focuses on folk arts related to the celebration, such as weaving, pottery, dance, and preparation of special foods.

Almost ten years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a Whites only school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California.

Latino Americans chronicles the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos, who have for the past 500-plus years helped shape what is today the United States. It is a story of people, politics, and culture, intersecting with much that is central to the history of the United States while also going to places where standard U.S. histories do not tend to tread.

On the evening before Magdalena's 15th birthday Quinceañera celebration, she discovers that she's pregnant. Forced by her family to leave her home, she moves in with her uncle and gay cousin.

Latin music USA highlights the great American music created by Latinos, and celebrates the Latin rhythms at the heart of jazz, rock, country, and rhythm and blues. It's a fresh take on American musical history, reaching across five decades to portray the rich mix of sounds created by Latinos and embraced by all.

Four Hispanic high school students organize a robotics club. With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts and big dreams, this rag tag team goes up against the country's reigning robotics champion, MIT.

Three different people are catapulted into dramatic and unforeseen circumstances in the wake of a terrible car crash: a young punk stumbles into the sinister underground world of dog fighting; an injured supermodel's designer pooch disappears into the apartment's floorboards; and an ex-radical turned hit man rescues a Rotweiler with a gunshot wound.

"Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century--and she continues the fight to this day ... With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother to eleven, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one's life to social change."--

Tradition holds back the youngest of three Mexican daughters from marrying the man that she loves. In an attempt to stay closer together, her beloved marries the young woman's sister and it is then that a magical and unique secret is discovered through her cooking.