Film Review: ‘A Song for Cesar’ reveals the beating heart of culture-driven activism
BY ROBERT ABELE, LA Times
MARCH 10, 2022 3:37 PM PT
Every once in a while, it’s good to be reminded that art can lift an important movement, and that certainly was the case with La Causa, Cesar Chavez’s groundbreaking farmworker movement in the ’60s and ’70s. A new (but long in the making) documentary from Andres Alegria and Abel Sanchez, “A Song for Cesar,” collects a wide chorus of testimonials — and a few performances — from artists across music, art and theater to paint a picture of what that culture-driven activism looked like.
Chavez, a music-loving zoot suiter in his youth who never passed an opportunity to scour a record store, understood the power of songs and art when it came to amplifying his message of fighting for better working and living conditions for the campesinos in California’s fertile fields. Malaquías Montoya speaks to how Chavez inspired the flourishing of his artistic growth. Luis Valdez and Agustín Lira recall how his support for their sharp-edged skits on the backs of flatbed trucks became the basis for the legendary El Teatro Campesino.
★ Read full review at https://www.latimes.com
