Screenings: Celebrating the Chicano Moratorium 50th Anniversary

Event Date: 
Monday, August 24, 2020 -
4:00pm to 5:30pm
Event Location: 
This program will be streamed online. A viewing link will be emailed to those who register.
 

On August 29, 1970 in East Los Angeles, a peaceful march of over 20,000 Chicanas/os, united in protest against the Vietnam War as part of the National Chicano Moratorium movement, was violently interrupted by an extreme, unjustifiable response by law enforcement. The tragic events of that day left four dead, including prominent Mexican American journalist Ruben Salazar (killed under suspicious circumstances by a Los Angeles Sheriff Deputy’s tear gas projectile). In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the historic march, UCLA Film & Television Archive, in partnership with the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, presents a chronological selection of short works examining pivotal moments of activism in East Los Angeles—from the student walkouts for equal educational opportunities of 1968 to the Chicano Moratorium of 1970. Further contextualized by the words of Ruben Salazar, via excerpts of interviews taped the year he was murdered, our program hopes to illuminate this crucial period of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and the bravery and sacrifice of a unified community that dared to pursue social justice in the face of institutional neglect and police violence

Hosted by Chon Noriega, director, UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and author of Shot in America: Television, the State, and the Rise of Chicano Cinema. Noriega will moderate a post-screening discussion with artist Harry Gamboa Jr. and Los Angeles Times staff writer Carolina Miranda.

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Canción de la Raza (“Song of the People”) (1968)

At a time when Mexican Americans were virtually absent from narrative television, this pointed, bilingual public service telenovela earnestly attempted to examine life in East Los Angeles via the dramatization of the challenges facing a fictional Mexican American family. This debut episode concerns the Chicano student walkouts (“blowouts”) of 1968, including graphic incidents of police brutality (depicted via actual footage of the LAPD). The activism born of the blowouts would inform later community efforts in East Los Angeles, including the historic Chicano Moratorium march of 1970.

30 min. Use courtesy of KCETLink.

The Siesta is Over: Ruben Salazar interview (excerpt, 1970)

Approx. 3 min.

The Chicano Moratorium: A Question of Freedom (1971)

A harrowing, eyewitness documentary of the events of August 29, 1970, at Laguna Park and their immediate aftermath—including the murder of Chicano journalist, Ruben Salazar. In contrast to biased TV news reports of the period, this student-made short offers an impassioned, unvarnished community account of the unrest and violence unleashed by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in response to the otherwise peaceful march in protest of disproportionate Chicano casualties in the Vietnam War.

10 min. Use courtesy of Thomas Myrdahl.

Tempo: Ruben Salazar interview (excerpt, 1970)

Approx. 2 min.

Register via Eventbrite here.

This event is free and open to the public. 

This event is organized by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and co-sponsored by the CSRC. For more information, contact: programming@cinema.ucla.edu

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