“Let’s just shoot the play.” If you’ve listened to the first season of More Than a Movie, you may remember the one property that kept getting mentioned over and over - Zoot Suit - the play, and later film, that linked a generation of Latino actors and became a foundational text for the Chicano arts movement. Even many of our guests this season - from Andy Garcia to Lou Diamond Phillips and Enrique Castillo - have a connection to Zoot Suit, so we were incredibly honored when the legendary creator himself, Luis Valdez, came on board for an interview.  We discussed his early political work on the ground with Cesar Chavez, founding the iconic Teatro Campesino, and everything Zoot Suit - the conception of the play, directing the film adaptation his way, and essentially launching Edward James Olmos’ movie career.

“Let’s just shoot the play.” If you’ve listened to the first season of More Than a Movie, you may remember the one property that kept getting mentioned over and over - Zoot Suit - the play, and later film, that linked a generation of Latino actors and became a foundational text for the Chicano arts movement. Even many of our guests this season - from Andy Garcia to Lou Diamond Phillips and Enrique Castillo - have a connection to Zoot Suit, so we were incredibly honored when the legendary creator himself, Luis Valdez, came on board for an interview.  We discussed his early political work on the ground with Cesar Chavez, founding the iconic Teatro Campesino, and everything Zoot Suit - the conception of the play, directing the film adaptation his way, and essentially launching Edward James Olmos’ movie career.

S2: On this season of More Than a Movie, host Alex Fumero takes us through some of our favorite films that have impacted Latino Cinema. From Andy Garcia’s 1990 breakout role in Godfather III to Natalie Morales’s 2021 double directorial debut with Plan B and Language Lessons, this podcast looks at the story behind the story of Latino movies over the last several decades. Every episode will reveal something about the movie you didn’t know, feature interviews with the biggest actors, directors, writers and producers behind them, and tap into the history of Latinos in film.



S1: When Edward James Olmos set out on his directorial debut, American Me, he wanted to accomplish two things: to represent Chicano culture on the big screen and to save part of his community from gang violence. But when people were allegedly murdered because of their participation in the film and Olmos himself was allegedly extorted by the real life Mexican Mafia, it exposed the unintended risks of trying to represent someone with an agenda in mind, even a well-meaning one. On the 30th anniversary of the cult classic, host Alex Fumero and producer Nigel Duara delve into the true story of American Me and the legacy the controversial film left behind.

S2: On this season of More Than a Movie, host Alex Fumero takes us through some of our favorite films that have impacted Latino Cinema. From Andy Garcia’s 1990 breakout role in Godfather III to Natalie Morales’s 2021 double directorial debut with Plan B and Language Lessons, this podcast looks at the story behind the story of Latino movies over the last several decades. Every episode will reveal something about the movie you didn’t know, feature interviews with the biggest actors, directors, writers and producers behind them, and tap into the history of Latinos in film.
 
S1: When Edward James Olmos set out on his directorial debut, American Me, he wanted to accomplish two things: to represent Chicano culture on the big screen and to save part of his community from gang violence. But when people were allegedly murdered because of their participation in the film and Olmos himself was allegedly extorted by the real life Mexican Mafia, it exposed the unintended risks of trying to represent someone with an agenda in mind, even a well-meaning one. On the 30th anniversary of the cult classic, host Alex Fumero and producer Nigel Duara delve into the true story of American Me and the legacy the controversial film left behind.

More Than a Movie

Zoot Suit with Luis Valdez

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a599304f-2e56-410e-8ebd-b1790122eb0f/transcript

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