OUR TEXAS, OUR VOTE PREMIERES ON PBS'VOCES ON MONDAY, OCT. 28, 2024 and on PBS.ORG.
On the eve of the upcoming presidential election, acclaimed filmmaker Hector Galan takes viewers inside the largest Latino voter mobilization in Texas history, led by a new generation on the frontlines of one of the most crucial battleground states that neither political party can ignore.
Porvenir, Texas (2020)
Discover the true story behind the 1918 massacre of 15 Mexican men in this Texas border town. 100 years later, the film asks what led to the events of that fateful night and reveals the tensions that remain along the border a century later.
Willie Velasquez: Your Vote Is Your Voice (2016)
Political empowerment for Latinos in the United States has always been difficult. A Mexican-American butcher's son from Texas, Willie Velasquez questioned the lack of Latino representation in his city's government, propelling him into a lifelong battle to gain political equality for Latinos. This documentary examines obstacles Latinos had to overcome to obtain representation, and addresses issues facing Latinos today.
Children of Giant (2015)
In the summer of 1955, it seemed as if all of Hollywood descended on the dusty West Texas town of Marfa as production began on the movie Giant, starring a legendary trio--Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean--along with young actors Earl Holliman and Elsa Cardenas. Based on Edna Ferber's controversial novel, Giant was a different kind of western, taking an unflinching look at feminism and class divisions, and at the racial divide between Anglos and Mexican Americans in the Southwest. The movie earned ten Academy Award® nominations, with a win for George Stevens as Best Director.
Now, 60 years later, Children of Giant returns to Marfa to explore the dramatic story behind the making of the film and its enduring legacy, combining interviews with the surviving cast and crew, with the recollections of residents who participated in the production, many of whose lives mirrored the controversial themes of racism and segregation explored in the film. Featuring rare behind-the-scenes footage and never-before-seen photos. Children of Giant includes interviews with several noted film historians, celebrating a film classic that remains as powerful and relevant today as when it was first released.
Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine (2015)
Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine, on American Public Television nationwide April, 2015. Hosted by Jonathan Phillips, Royal Holloway University of London historian and frequent consultant to BBC Radio and BBC Television, the series of six brilliant one-hour episodes follows the path of a small Jewish sect as it grows into the world’s largest religion, Christianity.
The series takes viewers on a journey inside the New Testament to the actual places where real people lived momentous events that changed the world forever. Our host, Jonathan Phillips explores these sites with renowned archeologists, historians, and theologians to discover just how the world’s largest religion sank its roots, struggled to survive, and finally triumphed.
The series is produced and directed by Hector Galan. Original Music Score by Joseph Julian Gonzalez. Executive producer Jerry Daigle of Sunrise Films, LLC.
The Big Squeeze (2010)
The documentary, The Big Squeeze, is a joyful leap into the heart of Texas music. And where there’s music there’s usually some grilling going on. That’s why Herminio Ramirez builds a stage right in the tiny kitchen of their Houston home for his son John. From the urban barrios of Houston to the colonias along the U.S.-Mexican border, legacies fueled by the passion-stirring combination of family, friends and food, is being passed along. In The Big Squeeze, we follow 16 year old John Ramirez and other young musicians as they do battle at the statewide accordion throwdown presented by Texas Folklife. Produced and Directed by Hector Galán. A production of Galán Inc for Texas Folklife.
A Migrant's Masterpiece: The Life and Legacy of Patrick Flores (2008)
Spanning a period of almost eighty years, this inspirational and compelling film captures the life and legacy of Patrick Flores, the first Mexican American to be appointed Bishop in the history of the Catholic Church. The film chronicles his childhood and early years as a migrant farm worker, high school drop out and cantina musician. Patrick Flores dreamed of becoming a priest, a nearly impossible goal for a Mexican American in those days in Texas. The film is a microcosm of the struggles and triumphs of Mexican Americans. The film captures Patrick’s amazing journey to the top hierarchy of the Catholic Church, becoming one of the most influential Latino leaders in the United States.
Los Lonely Boys: Cottonfields And Crossroads (2007)
After a childhood of playing cantinas and honky tonks, Los Lonely Boys blazed onto the music scene with a 2004 self-titled debut release that went multi-platinum and a 2005 Grammy win for their hit single, “Heaven”. The Garza brothers- Henry, Jojo, and Ringo- have a unique signature sound they call “Texican”. Los Lonely Boys Cottonfields and Crossroads brings their amazing story to the screen.
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Hector Galan, himself a San Angelo native, fuses exciting live performances, vivid imagery of West Texas, intimate personal stories told by the band and their family, weaving a historical and cultural perspective on Los Lonely Boys, their Mexican-American roots and musical influences.
The film had its world premiere at the 2006 SXSW film festival and its West Coast Premiere at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. It was nominated for a 2007 Imagen Award for Best Documentary film and screened at the 3rd annual Turks & Caicos International Film Festival in October 2007.
Visiones: Latino Art and Culture (2005)
The award winning series for PBS VISIONES: LATINO ART & CULTURE, is a journey through the music, words, dance, painting and performance of rich Latino cultures made more complex and fascinating by their history in our country. The series explores how contemporary Latino artists continue to build on rich traditions that reflect a unique multi-ethnic experience, taking established art forms and reinventing them, constantly challenging themselves and the communities which nurture them. From New York City’s break-dancers to mural-painters in Los Angeles and Chicago to theater in Texas, the series offers a unique cross section of Latino artists working today.
A co-production of the National Association of Latino Art & Culture and Galán Productions, Inc. Presented on PBS by ITVS, co-presented by Latino Public Broadcasting. Executive Producers: Hector Galán and Sally Jo Fifer (ITVS). Winner of the “IMAGEN AWARD”, Documentary Film Category, Imagen Foundation
Love My Freedom, I Love My Texas (2005)
Mingo Saldivar takes center stage in this electrifying music performance documentary that will surely make you want to dance. Produced and Directed by Hector Galán, I Love My Freedom, I Love My Texas captures the passionate spirit of one of conjunto’s most admired and popular accordion masters who is considered a National Treasure. Mingo Saldivar was honored by the National Endowment of the Arts with the highest honor- the National Heritage Fellowship for lifetime achievement in American music traditions. Mingo Saldivar and his band, los Cuatro Espadas (the Four of Spades) take us into their world and behind the scenes as they travel the highways and backroads of Texas in their RV. We go with Mingo all over- from honky tonks to Texas size dance halls.
Mingo Saldivar is known as “The Dancing Cowboy” for his unique stylized dancing moves as he pours his heart and soul into his exciting accordion style while performing. He has taken his accordion-driven conjunto all over the world. His artistic reputation has spread outside of Texas and the Southwest through performances throughout the country and in Europe, including at venues like Carnegie Hall, presidential inaugerations, at universities, and on a special tour of Africa and the Middle East sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency. He has performed extensively in northern Mexico where his fans have developed a dance in his honor, called Mingo Mania. Texas born and Texas bred, Mingo Saldivar, in a career spanning five decades, pays tribute in “I Love My Freedom, I Love My Texas”, to the very land from which conjunto music was born.
Cinco De Mayo (2004)
The story behind the holiday. First-person accounts shed light on one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the Americas. In some ways, it is a companion story to the Alamo. But on May 5th, 1862, it was the Mexican forces who were besieged, and they engineered a stunning victory rather than a noble defeat. In the process, the history of the New World was reshaped.
Galán Inc. produced this hour long documentary, Cinco de Mayo, for the History Channel. Narrated by Henry Cisneros. Produced and Directed by Hector Galán.
Each May 5th, Cinco de Mayo celebrations are held in cities throughout the United States. Few people, however, know the history and cultural significance of this holiday. Cinco de Mayo is a story that began on a sweltering day in the city of Puebla, Mexico. It was in this city and surrounding forts that an ill-equipped Mexican Army along with Zacapoaxtla Indians and regular citizens beat the invading French Army, the most powerful army in the world at the time, in a bloody battle of the morning of May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, 1862.
The Cinco de Mayo story has never been told on American television. The History Channel brings this riveting story to viewers for the first time. Filmed in Mexico and the U.S., this film captures the events leading to the Cinco de Mayo battle and the stunning aftermath. With thousands of new reinforcements, the French eventually defeated Mexico, forcing President Benito Juarez to flee Mexico City. Napoleon the III’s goal of a French Empire in the America’s became a reality. Maximilian was chosen as the new Emperor and his wife Carlotta as Empress. We look at Maximilian’s doomed three year reign of Mexico and Carlota’s spiral into insanity.
Finally, with guerilla warfare armed by post Civil War United States, Benito Juarez forces the French to withdraw, leading to the capture and execution of Maximilian. Today the memory of the French occupation has faded, except for Cinco de Mayo, the day the Mexicans defeated one of the most powerful armies in the world.
Accordion Dreams (2001)
Accordion Dreams, the much anticipated follow up to Hector Galán’s Songs of the Homeland, was broadcast nationally on PBS on August 30, 2001.
Accordion Dreams was screened throughout the country including CineFestival of San Antonio, SXSW of Austin, the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival, CineSol Latino Film Festival, the Dallas Video Festival. A special screening was held at the historic La Villita Dance Hall in San Benito, Texas and at the Great Plains Film Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. Accordion Dreams was honored as the “best film to explicate the Latino/ethnic heritage of the Great Plains Region” with the prestigious “Rainbow Award”.
Accordion Dreams was also selected by the American Film Institute as a program participant in the 2001 Enhanced Television Workshop, where it is being developed as a prototype in the use of new technologies for the development of interactive, digital TV.
The Forgotten Americans (2000)
Filmmaker Hector Galán takes you on a journey to the colonias. We travel into American communities where hope resides despite the fact that the streets have no names and often there is no running water or electricity.
Galán Inc.’s production of The Forgotten Americans, narrated by Henry Cisneros and produced/ directed/edited by Hector Galán, is a moving documentary special funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Forgotten Americans is a co-production of Galán Inc. and Texas State University, with Dr. Jaime Chahin, as executive producer. Forgotten Americans captures a day in the life of America’s poorest people along the Texas border who live in “colonias”. The film had its world premiere on March 17, 2000 at a special screening at the Smithsonian in Washington DC and then was nationally broadcast on PBS in December 2000. It is now also available for purchase through our online store.
For more extensive information about this documentary and colonias, including Hector Galán’s filmmaker’s journal, please visit the PBS website on the Forgotten Americans.
Texas and the Latino Vote (2000)
Presidential front-runners in both political parties are making special efforts to court Latinos – and for good reason: Hispanics could play a critical role in Texas, California, New York and Florida, which carry the largest blocs of electoral votes. “Texas and the Latino Vote” – a joint project by WFAA, KERA 13, KERA 90.1 and KUVN (Univision) – focuses special attention on the opportunities and challenges confronting Hispanics in 2000. Disputing the myth that Latinos don’t vote and presenting historical and cultural perspectives on civic engagement.
The Border (1999)
Six independently produced segments examine contemporary life along the U.S.-Mexico border. Unfinished Business and Winter Texans produced by Galán Productions, Inc. Hosted and narrated by John Quiñones from ABC’s 20/20.
Awards:
2000 Nominated for Emmy for “Outstanding Achievement Magazine Program”
2000 “Honorable Mention”, Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego, CA Chapter
Chicano! History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement (1996)
This four part landmark documentary series now a classic for Mexican American history of the U.S., chronicles the struggle for equality and social justice of the Mexican American community in the United States from 1965 to 1975. Produced from Austin Texas by Galán Productions, Inc. It features the Chicano land struggle, Cesar Chavez and the UFW, the Los Angeles High School Walk-outs and the creation of the political party La Raza Unida.
Awards:
1997 “Golden Eagle Award”
1997 “Telly Award”
Songs of the Homeland (1995)
The history of the Texas Mexican experience as told through the development of Tejano music. Filmed on location throughout Texas, Songs of the Homeland tells the story of Tejano Music. This critically acclaimed documentary features images of the past and present and includes performances and interviews with musical pioneers such as Tony de la Rosa, Valerio Longoria, Lydia Mendoza, Isidro Lopez, Sunny Ozuna, Mingo Saldivar, and Little Joe Hernandez. Produced and Directed by Award Winning Filmmaker Hector Galán, Songs of the Homeland is an exuberant journey into the heart and soul of Tejano music.
Awards:
1995 “Special Jury Award” at the CineFestival Latino Film & Video Exhibition
1994 “Award of Excellence” at the CineSol Latino Film Festival
Go Back To Mexico! (1994)
Examines the issues revolving around the heated debate on illegal immigration in the state of California.
The Hunt for Pancho Villa, The American Experience (1993)
After notorious revolutionary leader Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico, General John Pershing and his 150,000 man cavalry set out to get Villa, dead or alive. Just before dawn on March 9, 1916, a band of Mexican revolutionaries loyal to General Francisco "Pancho" Villa crossed the border into the United States and attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico. Within a matter of hours, seventeen Americans and 67 Mexicans lay dead. The next day, President Woodrow Wilson announced the formation of the Punitive Expedition under the command of General John "Blackjack" Pershing. Within three months over 150,000 U.S. National guardsmen and Army regulars would be mobilized, in what was the largest troop deployment in the United States since the Civil War.
Produced and directed by Hector Galán, The Hunt for Pancho Villa recounts the events that brought the U.S. and Mexico to the brink of war in the early part of this century. The film draws on a wealth of visual archival materials, such as photographs, postcards, cartoons, newsreel and film excerpts found in public and private collections in the United States and Mexico. Eleven months after they entered Mexico, the Punitive Expedition returned without ever having caught sight of Pancho Villa.
Awards:
1994 Imagen Award given by The National Conference
1994 Cine Golden Eagle given by the Council on International Non-Theatrical Events
1993 Spur Award for “Best Western TV Script-Documentary” given by Western Writers of America, Inc.
Who Cares About Children? (1992)
Looks at the children who are damaged and “lost” inside Arkansas’ troubled foster care system and the political battle between children’s advocates and Governor Bill Clinton just as he launches his Presidential campaign.
Power, Politics, And Latinos (1992)
Examines the history of Latino voting patterns, as well as the potential impact of the growing Latino electorate on the 1992 presidential election.
The Color Of Your Skin (1991)
Examines the dynamics of race through the military’s Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute as the students confront each other with their racial anger and frustration.
Los Mineros (1991)
This critically acclaimed documentary film, Los Mineros, is narrated by Luis Valdez and recounts the 50-year story of Mexican American miners and their struggle to shape the course of Arizona history between 1903 and 1947. The film profiles the rise and fall of the sister cities of Clifton-Morenci, where the mining of copper ore governed the lives of all the inhabitants. Using archival footage and the testimony of witnesses, the film examines the mineros' struggles for equal pay and fair working conditions, even in Mexico where mines were owned by American companies.
Awards:
1993 “Best Documentary Feature” at South by Southwest Film & Media Confrence
1993 San Sebastian (Spain) International Film Festival
1992 Finalist at the Houston International Film Festival
1992 San Antonio Cinefestival
The Forgotten People: Latinas With AIDS (1990)
Profiles Latinas with AIDS, their struggles with the disease and coping with their families and society.
New Harvest, Old Shame (1990)
Reveals how and why farmworkers remain the worst treated workers in America thirty years after Edward R. Murrow’s documentary, Harvest Of Shame, exposed the farmworkers’ lives.
Awards:
1991 “Golden Apple Award” on domestic social issues at the National Educational Film & Video Festival
1991 “Blue Ribbon Award” at the American Film & Video Festival
The Dallas Drug War (1989)
Profiles a community held hostage by crack and those who are fighting back.
Shakedown in Santa Fe (1988)
Looks at the changes at the Penitentiary Of New Mexico eight years after one of the bloodiest riots in American penal history.
Vaquero: The Forgotten Cowboy (1988)
The unsung hero of the American West is the Mexican American "Vaquero," literally translated as "cowboy" in the Spanish language. Today, there are only a handful of these descendants of America's first cowboys since a rapidly changing industry has quickly made this lifestyle obsolete. Shot on location in South Texas, this moving documentary pays homage to a breed of men that history has overlooked as they continue a trade from an era gone by.
Special collector's DVD has both the English and Spanish Versions of Vaquero and a bonus track of La Mujer en el Rancho, documentary short that examines the role of women in the ranching culture of South Texas from 1750 to the present, exploring the sources of these roles in Mexican and Spanish cultures.
Stopping Drugs Pt. 1 (1987)
A harrowing look at the lives of those who seek treatment for drug addiction.
Standoff in Mexico (1986)
Takes an in-depth look at the country’s complex political system.
The Emerging Force (1985)
Focuses on the growing Hispanic political and economic power in America.
The Mask of El Zarco (1984)
Features the life and works of a Mexican-American mask maker.
Cuba - A Personal Journey (1984)
Traces the path of an exile’s return visit to Cuba after twenty years.
Chasing the Basketball Dream (1984)
Looks at college athletics versus academics.
In the Shadow of the Capitol (1983)
A look at the other Washington and examines the evolution of black political power in America.
Sanctuary (1981)
A journey on the new underground railroad which probes the church’s involvement in the sanctuary movement.
The End of the Race (1981)
Looks at the survival of the traditional Pueblo Indian culture through the eyes of the Pueblo Indian cross-country runners of New Mexico. This award winning documentary follows four Pueblo championship cross-country runners exploring cultural values associated with running and the complexity of carrying forward the tradition in contemporary Pueblo society.
Awards:
1982 Bronze Award given by International Film and Television Festival of New York
1982 Bronze Award given by Houston International Film Festival