Truth Songs: What happens when a movement sings?
Mural Artwork by George Yepes
Mural Artwork by George Yepes
Documentary: A Song for Cesar
A Song for Cesar, a documentary film by Abel Sanchez and Andres Alegria, presents a unique view of the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez and the farmworker movement. The film tells a previously untold story about the musicians and artists – including Joan Baez, Maya Angelou, and Carlos Santana, among others – who dedicated their time, creativity and even reputations to peacefully advance Cesar Chavez’s movement to gain equality and justice for America’s suffering farmworkers. The documentary also explores other facets of Cesar’s life – from childhood to his final days – revelations that, until now, have not been shared on screen.
''Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak...Non-violence is hard work. It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win''
– Cesar Chavez
The core values of social justice, equality, compassion, and perseverance.
The power, importance, and effectiveness of non-violent and peaceful protest
The use of education, talent, creativity, and self-sacrifice to help improve the lives of others.
The art of organizing to give a voice to those without one.
SI SE PUEDE!
“Yes, it can be done.”
A Song for Cesar was inspired by a man, a song and a poet.
Abel Sanchez and Jorge Santana wrote the lyrics and the music to “A Song for Cesar” as a tribute to the legacy of Cesar Chavez and the movement he created. They put the words to music and set the song to a short video infused with iconic images of musicians and artists working side-by-side with Cesar to give voice to struggling farmworkers. And then, they shared it with Maya Angelou.Â
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Ways to participate
The ultimate goal of “A Song For Cesar” is to educate and inspire. Now more than ever, people struggle for justice and to be heard. Much can be learned by recalling Cesar’s brave and peaceful movement that lifted oppressed farmworkers and their families out of unfathomable conditions and created a movement that lives on today.
Will you help educate and inspire our communities by supporting “A Song For Cesar?”
You can help by:
- Following us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and sharing “A Song for Cesar” messages.
- Donating to help ensure “A Song For Cesar” and its message of hope can be widely shared.
- Joining our mailing list to sign up for updates on events and premieres.
See what others are saying
Los Angeles Times
A Song for Cesar doesn’t need to be slick to reveal its beating heart. It’s the kind of labor of love that brings recent history into colorful and tuneful focus. And with conditions for farmworkers these days hardly tolerable still, maybe this movie can be absorbed as a song “from” Cesar too. [Read more]
Maya Angelo
American Poet, Memoirist, and Civil Rights Activist
Abel Sanchez and Jorge Santana have added music to a story of Cesar Chavez and it’s really a song for Cesar. The piece is so moving that I can’t wait for it to be in the clear possession of everybody, Black, and White, Latino, and Asian, Native American, all of us we should have it.
Len Ramirez
KPIX 5 Evening News
The power of music and how it helped inspire social change for California farm workers is the focus of a new documentary from musician turned filmmaker Abel Sanchez called “A Song for Cesar.” [Read more]
The Wrap
Fills in a unique angle in the tapestry of Chicano history…Both sprawling and focused, this documentary tracks the many musicians and artists who supported Cesar Chavez’s fight for social justice. [Read more]
The Movie Gourmet
A Song for Cesar is a rich documentary on the role of music and the arts in the critical years of Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Worker movement – so rich that it’s much more than that. There’s a time capsule of the turbulent 1960s, the story of emerging Chicano identity and a meditation on the role…
Ray Lobo
Film Threat
A Song for Cesar, attempts to recast Chavez as a transcendent historical figure and an ordinary individual. Co-directors Andres Alegria and Abel Sanchez successfully achieve this balance by making viewers aware of the role of art in shaping Chavez’s personal life, and the role artists played in the United Farm Workers and The Campesino Movement’s…
Julian Roman
MovieWeb
A Vibrant Musical Retrospective of the Farm Workers Movement. A Song For Cesar teaches and inspires with a head-bobbing, toe-tapping beat. It is a remarkable remembrance of a man and movement.
Plaza Classic Film Festival
Takes a musical approach to [Cesar Chavez’s] life…Includes revealing interviews with several heavyweights – fellow activist Dolores Huerta, Carlos Santana, Joan Baez, Maya Angelou – and culminates with a studio performance of the title song.
48 Hills
Pumps up the music behind Chicano power…Film uses plentiful archival footage and interviews with leading fellow activists… Emphasizing [cultural renaissance] is what distinguishes Song for Cesar from numerous prior docs on this general history, as it throws a spotlight on related developments in visual arts, theater, and particularly music.
The Mercury News
A well-rounded look into the life of activist/labor leader Cesar Chavez, relating how this groundbreaking drives for farmworkers’ rights inspired music, art and theater pieces. The stirring documentary is stuffed with vintage archival photos and features memorable commentary from dozens, including Carlos Santana, Joan Baez, Dolores Huerta and countless others.
Variety
A celebration of the organizers, musicians and artists comprising Cesar Chavez’s Farmworkers movement…Tells a previously untold story about the musicians and artists who dedicated their time, creativity and reputations to peacefully advance Chavez’s movement of labor organizing in pursuit of better wages and working conditions for farmworkers. Also explores other facets of Chavez’s life —…
Ruth Somalo
DOC NYC
A unique and stimulating view of the life and legacy of American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez and the farmworker movement.
Kiko Martinez
History will remember the blood, sweat, and tears shed by late civil-rights activist and labor leader Cesar Chavez while standing up for American farmworkers. In Song for Cesar, co-writers and co-directors Andres Alegria and Abel Sanchez build on that legacy and pride through the music of Chavez’s era. Daniel Valdez’s “Brown Eyed Children of the…
Paul Chavez
Son of Cesar Chavez, Chairman and President of the Cesar Chavez Foundation
My father’s work inspired many artists, who in turn moved millions of others with their music. They demonstrated that music can – and must- do more than just entertain; it is also a powerful, non-violent tool that can educate and inspire people to action. Many of these artists participated in this documentary. It is their…
David Carrasco
Neil L. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America
Divinity School and Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
Divinity School and Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
“Song for Cesar” does more than most films can do. It entertains, inspires, challenges but also opens the viewer so Cesar Chavez’s life, courage and wisdom can be absorbed into oneself. This cinema magic comes from the musical storytelling that Sanchez and Alegria present with gusto, sensitivity, love and power. This is Chicano history expanded…