Roxie Theater: American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez
Special Q&A Screenings
Friday, July 31, 6:10 PM PST, Roxie Theater
Q&A with Luis Valdez and filmmakers David Alvarado, Everett Katigbak,
and Lauren DeFilippo
Moderated by Roberto Hernandez
In celebration of the San Francisco Lowrider Council’s 45th anniversary
Sunday, August 2, 3:30 PM PST, Roxie Theater
Q&A with filmmakers David Alvarado and Everett Katigbak
Moderated by Jamie Meltzer
Against political resistance and industry skepticism, Luis Valdez pushes Chicano storytelling from the fields to the film screen with “Zoot Suit” and “La Bamba” – creating iconic works that challenge, celebrate, and expand America’s story. AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ runs 92 minutes, is in English and Spanish with English subtitles, and is not yet rated.
About the Film
AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ chronicles how writer/playwright/ director Luis Valdez illuminated the Mexican American experience on stage and screen and transformed the American cultural landscape.
Born in Delano, California in 1940, Valdez wrote his first plays in grammar school, had his first play produced when he was a student at San Jose State University, and created El Teatro Campesino alongside the United Farm Workers, helping to inspire a broader Chicano theater movement.
Following a sold-out run of his landmark play Zoot Suit in Los Angeles (1978), Valdez became the first Chicano director to have a play presented on Broadway when it made its New York premiere in 1979. The hit film LA BAMBA (1987), written and directed by Valdez, was also a cultural phenomenon and the first Hollywood blockbuster to focus on a Hispanic family’s experience. The film adaptations of ZOOT SUIT and LA BAMBA were both selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.
About the filmmaker
David Alvarado is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who brings to life stories of trailblazers in science, the arts, and human rights. His journey began as a high school dropout interning at Dallas PBS affiliate KERA, where he climbed from marketing to production, discovering his calling behind the camera. He co-founded Structure Films in New York City with Jason Sussberg.
His feature documentaries include THE IMMORTALISTS (2014), BILL NYE: SCIENCE GUY (2017), WE ARE AS GODS (2022), and AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ (2026). For television, he directed BLOOD SUGAR RISING (2020) for PBS, directed and produced the NOVA films WHO’S IN CONTROL (2023) and SECRETS IN YOUR DATA (2024), and produced the three-part Independent Lens series MATTER OF MIND (2023-2025). He also hosted and produced an eight-part Audible Original podcast on environmental technologist Stewart Brand.
A Stanford Documentary Film MFA graduate, Alvarado has earned fellowships at the WGBH Producers Academy and Sundance’s Producers Workshop and was named one of DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 Filmmakers to Watch.
A Chicano filmmaker and decade-long NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers) member, Alvarado has dedicated his career to making the world more thoughtful through documentary storytelling, a mission that began twenty years ago when Luis Valdez showed him what was possible, at an event that ultimately culminated in this film. AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ recently screened as Opening Night Selection at DocLands.