MUST SEE FILMS

Salt of the Earth
Salt of the Earth is a 1954 film which tells the story of a long, difficult strike by Mexican American miners against the Empire Zinc Company in Bayard (near Silver City), New Mexico in 1950-1951 (In the film, the events were set in the fictional village of "Zinc Town"). The issues were equity in wages with Anglo workers, safety, and health.

The miners were to play themselves, and it was to be filmed on site. The crew was made up of blacklisted technicians, and only two professional actors would appear in the film: blacklisted Will Geer (the Sheriff, and who later went on to play the Grandpa on The Waltons on television), and Mexican actress Rosuara Revueltas (Esperanza). The final result, The Salt of the Earth, was a controversial film. Not only was the film about striking miners, whom the general public viewed to be either Communists or Communist-influenced, but the story focused on a Chicano community at a time when attitudes about Chicanos were changing. Throughout the Great Depression, official attitudes toward Mexican immigration and trans-border migration had grown increasingly hostile, as Anglos clamored in the depressed economy to take jobs that had traditionally belonged to Mexican immigrants. The film was denounced on the floor of the United States House of Representatives for its supposed "Communist" sympathies, and the FBI investigated the film's financing. The American Legion called for a boycott. Film-processing labs were told not to handle it. Unionized projectionists were instructed not to show it. After its opening night in New York, the film languished for 10 years as all but 12 additional theaters refused to screen it.

However, the film found a wide and appreciative audience in Eastern Europe.

Bread and Roses
Bread And Roses (2000) centers on the true janitors’ strike in Los Angelesthat took place during the late 1990s. Adrian Brody plays union organizer Sam, a man who spends his time rallying the troops to protest against the lack of holiday pay and benefits that these workers must endure.

The film aims its sights at a number of familiar (and worthy) targets. Corrupt government, big business, immigration law, union fat cats, bureaucracy and the American health care and education systems all get a slap in the face.

Walk-Out
Walkout (2006) is a film with a powerful message that resonates 38 years after the events it depicts occurred. Walkout is the stirring true story of the Chicano students of

East L.A., who in 1968 staged several dramatic walkouts in their high schools to protest academic prejudice and dire school conditions. Aided by a popular and progressive young teacher, Sal Castro, Paula Crisostomo and a group of young Chicano activists battle parents, teachers, bureaucrats, the police and public opinion to make their point. Along the way, the students learn profound lessons about embracing their own identity and standing up for what they believe in. Set in 1968, a tumultuous year that shook Americato its foundation, Walkout is a vivid reminder that people can change the world.

The producers of Walkout have a very personal reason for bringing the drama to the screen. Edward James Olmos was born and raised in East L.A., and has long been a strong and supportive advocate for reform among the Mexican American community. Executive producer Moctesuma Esparza was one of the original 1968 protesters; he is portrayed in this film by Bodie Olmos, Edward James Olmos' son. Several cast members are children of the original protesters, including Esparza's daughter Tonantzin.