Edward James Olmos inducted into National Film Registry by Library of Congress
By Marianne Love, Correspondent
“The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez,” directed by Robert M. Young, produced by Moctesuma Esparza and starring Edward James Olmos as Gregorio Cortez, has been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Each year, 25 films are selected for the registry due to their cultural, historical and aesthetic significance. The film is based on the true story of a Tejano vaquero, or cowboy, wrongly accused of stealing a horse during a translation misunderstanding with a sheriff.
The 1982 independent American Playhouse film was the first U.S. movie to feature a Latino hero, and had a production budget of a whopping $1.2 million, funded by PBS and Latino nonprofits promoting Chicano filmmaking at the time.
“It’s an extraordinary movie,” the producer and community activist, Moctesuma Esparza, said this week. “It’s considered one of the authentic, if not most authentic, Western ever made. It portrays a part of American history that is mostly ignored or obscured. It speaks to the challenges we (Mexican-Americans/Latinos) have today.”
It will be screened for free at 6:30 p.m. April 26 at UCLA James Bridges Theater.
In 2016, Olmos told a crowd at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles that the film was “hailed by the United States American Historical Society as the most authentic western made in film history.”
Olmos has also noted that film produced the first American Latino hero on the big screen. “They used our story, but they didn’t use our artistry,” Olmos said. “This was the very first time we were able to do that.”
The film was based on the book, “With His Pistol in His Hand” by America Paredes, set in Texas. During a heated exchange of words in Spanish, Gregorio Cortez’s unarmed brother is gunned down by the sheriff. Cortez kills the sheriff in self-defense and is hunted down by a posse of hundreds of Texas Rangers in June, 1901. Following his conviction, Cortez is sent to prison. His story inspired the narrative ballad El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez, a form of folk song that tells a story.
Esparza said the movie is relevant today because of its artistry, authenticity and social message.
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Free screening of “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez” followed by a fireside chat with star Edward James Olmos, producer Moctesuma Esparza and professor Chon Noriega.
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. April 26
WHERE: UCLA James Bridges Theater, 235 Charles E Young Drive E, Los Angeles, 90095
HOW: Seating available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
To register visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/screening-of-the-ballad-of-gregorio-cortez-with-qa-tickets-591823007547