'Zoot Suit'
Filmmaker and Tejano singer visit El Paso
By. C.A. 1/9/10
Photos by. D. Gonzalez
Luis Valdez ventured into El Paso from California to attend a screening of "Zoot Suit," his first all-inclusive motion picture centered on the amply successful Broadway play that he wrote and directed in 1981.
Valdez produced "Zoot Suit" starring Edward James Olmos, Tony Plana and El Paso's own Lupe Ontiveros, as well as "La Bamba", featuring Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto.
Zoot Suit composes a tale relating the authentic actions of the Sleepy Lagoon slaying trial — when a group of juvenile Mexican-Americans were wrongfully charged with murder — and the notorious Zoot Suit Riots. The film was based in the barrios of Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas against the stage set of the Zoot Suit Riots and World War II.
Luis Valdez, a man of seasoned roots, was also close friends with Mexican American farm labor and civil rights activists César Chávez and Dolores Huerta. Valdez labored with them in the scorching fields of California and eventually wrote a play about the struggle.
Legendary Tejano singer Little Joe Hernandez also attended the screening and enjoyed jokes and laughter with Luis Valdez while standing next to the classic cars of Hector Gonzalez, David Gonzalez and Eduardo Beckett of Latin Pride Car Club.
Latin Pride Car Club are no strangers when it comes to El Paso based films. The 22 year old car club was featured in "Down for the Barrio" in 1997, a movie created by writer and director César Alejandro. "Down for the Barrio" is about an ex-con fresh out of prison who returns to his old neighborhood in order to get rid of his past connection with crime. But soon discovers that his own pre-teen son is already a member of a violent street gang.
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