October 9 is the day when the mural América Tropical was unveiled in 1932 at its location on Olvera Street in Los Angeles. This large-scale artwork was created by one of Mexico’s Los Tres Grandes, David Alfaro Siqueiros, one of the best known subjects photographed by Luis C. Garza in 1971. Fittingly, today – October 9 – is a great day to share the news that a short documentary film about Garza and his work was selected as an “Official Selection” of the 2023 DTLA Film Festival.
RAZÓN DE SER: Luis C. Garza hosts its World Premiere screening as part of the Special Shorts Program: Latin/Latinx Film Series at LA Live’s Regal Theater on Saturday, November 4, 2023. The program starts at 5:00 PM and includes five short films (about an hour and a half total running time). Tickets are $20 in advance and at the door.
Presented by Radium 88 Productions and CauseConnect, RAZÓN DE SER: Luis C. Garza introduces the story of this rare Chicano photographer who, while now based in Los Angeles, uniquely documented activist movements on both coasts, and internationally, during the 1960s and 1970s. A longer feature-length documentary is in the works.
Perhaps best known recently for his work in co-curating the blockbuster LA RAZA exhibition at The Autry as part of The Getty’s Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, Garza’s work spans from the Chicano civil rights movement in Southern California to New York where he captured scenes of his South Bronx neighborhood, demonstrations on women’s rights, and rallies by the Young Lords Party who sought to empower Puerto Ricans and other colonized people. It also includes his 1971 travels to Eastern Europe for the World Peace Conference where, as a young Chicano student, he met renowned Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. The focus of the film, 80-year-old Garza is currently seeking an institution to properly archive and share his nearly 8,000 film negatives of his life’s work.
RAZÓN DE SER: Luis C. Garza
Special Shorts Program: Latin/Latinx Film Series
Saturday, November 4, 2023 • 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM
THEATRE #12 at Regal LA Live
1000 W Olympic Blvd,, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Film Credits: Radium 88 Productions and CauseConnect present RAZÓN DE SER: Luis C. Garza | Director: Alessandro Gentile | Producers: Heather Flores and Melissa Richardson Banks | Music Composer: Raul Pacheco| Photographer: Luis C. Garza | Sound: Tim Karau | Sound Editing: Oscar Coronel | Editing Consultant: Rich Molina | Graphic Animation: John Brugmann