December 18, 1998

Chicano Studies Journal Aztlán Takes Aim at AFIS Exclusion of Women and Minorities in its "100 Greatest American Films"

In the latest issue of the Chicano studies journal Aztlán, editor Chon Noriega takes aim at the American Film Institutes exclusion of films directed by women and minorities in its much-publicized list of the 100 greatest American movies.

In it, Noriega, a UCLA film historian and theorist, charges that by excluding women, gays and racial minorities from both Hollywood and the history books that define our nations cinema, America is being robbed of its history. The AFI list, he said, includes 100 pictures directed primarily by white men making big profits and good press for the studios, and excludes independent films, documentaries, avante-garde cinema and short narratives.

As a result of the lack of diversity represented in the AFI list, the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center established its own AFI, the Aztlán Film Institute, and presented its own top 100 list.

Nearly 2,500 ballots were received. "We suspected the Chihuahua," Noriega said, "but it was really democracy at work." Films were judged in four categories: documentaries, experimental, short or television narrative, and feature film.

"As the other but more inclusive AFI, we also stressed diversity, making sure to include male and female, straight and queer, Chicano and a few non-Chicano media artists," said Noriega, an associate professor of critical studies in the School of Theater, Film and Television. "What this list presents is a provisional Chicano film and video heritage, one that remains outside the official histories of the American cinema. Of course, we got so inclusive that we ended up with 149 titles in our top 100 list, but that's the price you pay."

While the Aztlán Film Institute did not rank films in order of importance, it cites the independent film "Please Don't Bury Me Alive/Por Favor, ¡No me Entierren Vivo! (1976)" as a pivotal film that inspired an independent film movement in Mexico. The low-budget film, directed by Mexican American Efraín Gutiérrez, uncovered barrio life in South Texas and served as an impetus for regional filmmaking.

Established in 1970, Atzlán was the country's first interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed academic journal to address Chicano issues and played a major role in the development of Chicano studies as a field of study. Published semi-annually by the Chicano Studies Research Center, the journal focuses on scholarly essays in the humanities, the social sciences and the arts.

AZTLÁN TOP 100 CHICANO FILMS

Documentaries:

Agueda Martinez: Our People, Our Country (1977) Esperanza Vasquez Chicana (1979) Sylvia Morales Ballad of an Unsung Hero (1983) Isaac Artenstein and Espinoza Rag Top Ralph (1984) Juan Garza.

Los Mineros (1991) Hector Galan and Paul Espinosa De Mujer a Mujer (1993) Beverley Sanchez-Padilla Cholo Joto (1993) Augie Robles ¡Viva 16! (1994) Valentin Aguirre and Augie Robles El Diablo Nunca Duerme/The Devil Never Sleeps (1994) Lourdes Portillo Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement (1996) Four-part documentary series. Executive producer: José Luis Ruiz. Series producer: Hector Galán. Segment producers: Robert Cozens, Hector Galán, Sylvia Morales, Mylene Moreno, and Susan Racho. The Fight in the Fields: César Chávez and the Farmworkers Struggles (1996) Ray Telles and Rick Tejada-Flores

Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary (1997) Laura Angélica Simón

Experimental:

Juntos en la Vida, Unidos en la Muerte (1985) Willie Varela

No Supper (1987) Harry Gamboa Jr.

Border Crossing, Versions One and Two (1988) Willie Varela

Short or Video Narratives:

Feature Films:

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