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Chicano Studies Research Center

DVDs

The Chicano Cinema and Media Art series showcases important and rare Chicano films and videos. Included in the collection are feature-length films and artists’ videos. Many of these works have been restored and the originals archived in the CSRC Library’s special collections.

DVD cover with tan bacground and a black and white photo of four male artists standing together in front of a mural with graffiti-like imagery.

Los Four/Murals of Aztlán: The Street Painters of East Los Angeles

July 2004
Los Four. Documents the first exhibition of Chicano artists held at a major art museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 1974. Los Four (1973-1983) was an influential Chicano art...
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DVD cover with a light blue background and film still of a young man holding a cigarette looking to the side, with shorts titles on the left.

Harry Gamboa Jr.: 1980s Video Art

July 2004
Imperfecto. The search for the truth takes a man through the abyss of urban falsehoods where he encounters those who would follow him to the nearest social exit. 1983. 3/4 in....
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DVD cover with light brown background and film still of two men in conversation, with a list of video art titles listed in yellow text.

Harry Gamboa Jr.: 1990s Video Art

July 2004
El Mundo L.A. : Humberto Sandoval, Actor. Humberto Sandoval searches for reasons why there are no pyramids in Aztlán. 1992, SVHS, color, 12:00. L.A. Familia. The Chicano nuclear family experiences a meltdown...
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DVD cover showing a colorful illustrated image of a young boy and girl both holding a Pepsi-Cola bottle, with a building in the background.

Frontierland/Fronterilandia (1995):  The Border in the Popular Imagination of the U.S. and Mexico

March 2005
This DVD examines the multiple points of cultural contact between the United States and Mexico. From the Santa Barbara Fiestas and South Carolina’s kitschy “South of the Border” tourist complex,...
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DVD cover with dark background and a close-up photo of the artist Gronk with one hand covering part of his face.

No Movie: A Journey Through the Archives of a Man Named Gronk

April 2007
Drawing from Gronk’s extensive personal archive of photos and drawings, and narrated by the artist himself, No Movie takes viewers on a journey through a diverse and prolific artistic career. No Movie begins...
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DVD cover showing a black, white, and red illustrated poster with people, an American flag, and a man behind bars.

Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive!/Por Favor, No Me Entierren Vivo! (1976)

May 2007
“This independent film, a slice-of-barrio- life that was shot and exhibited in South Texas, outperformed All the President’s Men in some small towns, while it singlehandedly broke Mexico’s monopoly over the four-hundred...
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DVD cover showing a photo of a large white and brown house surrounded by trees and a tall palm tree under a blue sky.

Casa Libre/Freedom House 

October 2008
Casa Libre/Freedom House is a documentary about the Los Angeles–based organization Casa Libre/Freedom House and its efforts to assist unaccompanied and undocumented immigrant minors in Los Angeles. Many of these youth leave their...
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DVD cover with color photo of the artist lying naked and facedown on a large rock formation, with large rounded rock formations in the background.

Laura Aguilar: Life, the Body, Her Perspective

September 2009
For nearly three decades Laura Aguilar has used photography as a tool to speak about people and issues not considered part of the cultural mainstream. Laura Aguilar: Life, the Body, Her...
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DVD cover showing a collage of colorful film stills, including close-ups of faces and eyes, an X-ray, a clock, a motorcycle rider, and a skull.

Video Art by Willie Varela

October 2013
Willie Varela’s videos emphasize the act of looking over storytelling, placing an emphasis on the relationship of the camera to his body, home environment, or nature. Varela stresses rhythm and...
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DVD cover showing Efrain Gutierrez shirtless, the film title in red and blue text, and the names of cast and crew on a dark blue background.

Run, Tecato, Run

May 2018
Run, Tecato, Run (Run, Junkie, Run) depicts a junkie’s efforts to break his heroin habit in order to reclaim and raise his daughter. Produced for $60,000, the film explores the connections between...
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