♪ Live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner ♪

Founded in 2001, New York-based Cinema Tropical is a non-profit media arts organization and the leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the United States. Thriving as a dynamic and innovative force, it develops effective strategies for the distribution and exhibition of foreign cinema through a variety of programs and initiatives. The Gotham Film & Media Institute celebrates and nurtures independent film and media creators, providing career-building resources, access to industry influencers, and pathways to wider recognition. The organization, under the leadership of Executive Director and award-winning producer Jeffrey Sharp, fosters a vibrant and sustainable independent storytelling community through its year-round programs, which include Gotham Week, Gotham Labs, Filmmaker Magazine, The Gothams, Gotham EDU, Owning It, and Expanding Communities. Luis Valdez is widely regarded as the father of Chicano theater and film. The son of migrant farmworkers, he founded El Teatro Campesino in 1965 on the picket lines of the Delano Grape Strike, staging short plays on flatbed trucks and in union halls to galvanize Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers. His landmark play, Zoot Suit, drawn from the 1942 Sleepy Lagoon murder trial and the Zoot Suit Riots, became the first Chicano production on Broadway and was later adapted into a 1981 feature film starring Edward James Olmos. In 1987 he wrote and directed LA BAMBA the Ritchie Valens biopic that became a major box office success and brought his vision to mainstream audiences. Across six decades, Valdez has written and directed dozens of plays and films, earned a Peabody Award and the National Medal of Arts, and seen ZOOT SUIT, LA BAMBA, and I AM JOAQUIN all preserved in the Library of Congress National Film Registry, leaving an indelible mark on American storytelling. Currently, Lou Diamond Phillips appears on the popular HBO series The Chair Company and Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. Recent television credits include Prodigal Son, Longmire, Quantum Leap, Goliath, You’re the Worst, Blue Bloods, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He received Emmy nominations for his roles in Conversations In LA and Crossroads of History. Phillips stars in the upcoming film GANGLAND, which will be released theatrically in 2026 by Lionsgate, DC’s JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, GET FAST, WEREWOLVES, EASTER SUNDAY, THE 33, CREATED EQUAL, and the Sundance film FILLY BROWN. Phillips first gained attention with his roles in LA BAMBA, STAND AND DELIVER, and YOUNG GUNS. He lives in New York with his wife and daughter. David Alvarado, a Chicano documentary filmmaker, is passionate about human rights, science, and technology. His latest film, AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ, won both the Festival Favorite Award and the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary at Sundance. Alvarado’s other notable works include We Are As Gods (adapted into an eight-part Audible Originals podcast), Bill Nye: Science Guy, Blood Sugar Rising, and the BFI-nominated THE IMMORTALISTS. He also produced and shot TRUE CONVICTION. A graduate of Stanford University’s MFA in Documentary Filmmaking, Alvarado co-founded Structure Films, focusing on science and tech stories. In 2022, he was named one of DOC NYC and HBO’s 40 under 40 documentary filmmakers to watch. Monica Castillo is the film critic for The A.V. Club and a freelance film programmer based in New York City. Her curatorial work has appeared at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, Boston Underground Film Festival, and the Paley Center for Media. Her journalism and criticism have appeared in NPR, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Colorado Public Radio, KCRW, and RogerEbert.com among others. She is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, Critics Choice Association, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.