Efrain Gutierrez to introduce new documentary currently in production titled“Al Norte”/To the North

     Efrain Gutierrez, an award-winning and internationally-known Chicano filmmaker, will be in Houston, Texas on Thursday, June 29, 2017 at Talento Bilingue de Houston, 333 South Jensen, Houston, Texas, to speak about his new documentary currently in production, “Al Norte”. The presentation is free, but a $10 donation is suggested. All donations going towards the production of “Al Norte”. Gutierrez is recognized by academia as being the first Chicano/Mexican American to independently produce a feature film titled “Please Don't Bury Me Alive/Por Favor No Me Entierren Vivo” released in 1976. The classic Chicano film was selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry in 2014. Gutierrez also has the distinction of being the first Chicano/Mexican American to have three films archived at the UCLA Film and Television Archives. His papers are archived at the Green Library at Stanford University. For his contribution to film, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Preservation and Foundation Programs selected Efrain Gutierrez to be part of the permanent Academy Film Archive Collection, where it will be presented as a unique and personal window into motion picture history. Gutierrez’ oral history and film memorabilia will be archived at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum, scheduled to open in Los Angeles, California in 2018. “Al Norte” documents stories of families from Texas and Mexico that labored as farm workers in the northern United States in the 1940s to the 1970s, many of them are now successful professionals. Gutierrez will share some of those stories. A brief history about Texas and its relations with Mexicans during the period of 1915 to 1970s will begin the presentation. The impact that the Mexican Revolution, WWI and WWII had on Mejicanos and Chicanos living in Texas and who had to confront racism, school segregation, unemployment, hanging by Texas Rangers, and the deportation of Mexicans in 1930s and 1950s, will be part of the presentation. “La Onda Chicana”,1976 musical video staring Little Joe y La Familia, Los Chachos, La Fabrica and Laura Canales with Snow Ball and Company will open the program. Gutierrez would enjoy meeting with, and possibly interviewing former Texas migrant farmworkers that would like to share their story for this documentary. Former migrant farm workers wanting to share their stories can contact Gutierrez at 210-815-0018 or email him at [email protected]. “We are producing the documentary “Al Norte” to give Chicano/Mexican American students, especially children of migrant farm workers like me, a brief look at our history in hopes of understanding how and why we are where we are today. I believe that by understanding our history, knowing where you came from and how much our families struggled to get here is very important to know. It is important to know the sacrifices and hardships our families suffered and endured to give us this great opportunity to get an education.”

Efrain Gutierrez For event information please call Jesus Cantu Medel at 713-575-7080.

​For interview contact Gutierrez at 210-815-0018 or email him at efraingutierrez_1@hotmailcom