damian trujillo: hello, and welcome to "comunidad del valle," i'm damian trujillo, and today, "a song for cesar," its premier is almost here, and you have an exclusive on your "comunidad del valle." ♪♪♪ damian: we begin with the monthly visit of the consulate of méxico here in san jose. with me is the cónsul general, the ambassador alejandra bologna on "comunidad del valle," consul, ambassador, bienvenidos otra vez to "comunidad del valle. alejandra bologna: thank you, i'm very pleased to be in your program damian, as always, helping our community and giving a lot of information to our community, thank you. damian: yeah no, it's always important to have you, because it's a lot of good information, and you have, again, the semana binacional de la salud coming

up, the binational health month. alejandra: yes, of course. on october 2 is going to be the inauguration with the county of santa clara, but here at the consulate we would have also different events, starting on the 8th of october until more or less the 19th, so we would have, and i invite all the community to review our facebook, our different media and social pages so they can see the different events that we are going to have. we will have a lot of information about the possibilities or places where they can access to take care of their health, but there also-- we will have on october 12, we will have also some covid shots and we're working it's probably on the 19th of october

that we will have also flu shots. as you know, it is very important for us, it's binational week, it's an addition that has been coming year by year, and it's one of the most important events that we have to promote health and give a lot of information to our community. damian: oh, good, well, you know, we're paying a lot of focus, and we should be, on covid-19 right now, but let's not forget about diabetes, let's not forget about high blood pressure. that is all a big concern in the latino community. that's what the binational health week is for. you also have the semana financeira, the financial education week coming up. alejandra: yes, and there are some days that are most-- more or less the same dates that we would have post information and different activities for helping your community to empower them and to have more different skills about how they

can have a better way to live. and you know, something special that we will have-- one concern that we have, and it was about covid, is the problem of rentals. that, you know, they--the different legislations that help people not paying during the covid crisis are ending. so, we have some information about how they can access to different economic programs and get some resources for resolve this late payment that they have because of the covid. damian: so, right now it's not just about opening up a bank account, sending money, or anything--now we're dealing about survival, we're talking about things that are essential for people day to day in order to live here where they live.

alejandra: yes, because it was the eviction that was, it's ending so we are giving more information to our community to solve immediate problems that maybe we'll have. and yes, of course, not just-- what we want to have in this week of information in the economic or financial area is to give a lot of opportunities to our community to be involved in more programs, to know how-- what is the best way to send money back to mexico or the safest one, and also having a lot of education in different areas, how to save money, how to save also money regarding the possibility of continuing their studies, their children.

so, there is a lot of opportunities, a lot of information, that we invite our community to be aware of what we are going to announce in our social medias. damian: great information, again, we're talking about financial literacy, financial health week, and your physical health, two important sessions by the consulate. any finals thoughts, consul, before i let you go? alejandra: well, what i always have said is that we are working very hard, our doors are open, and we are continue issuing our documents, and we have seen that we normally serving our community, the problem that we have in the past with the appointments, has been--we can say almost solved. it's more easy to now to get appointment, because we have been working very hard to try to reduce all the appointments that there were pending because of covid.

damian: all right, well, there's the information on the screen, it's the consulate of méxico here in san jose, there is a website where you can get all the information. consul, thank you so much, we'll see you again here in october. alejandra: thank you. damian: gracias, be well. and up next here on "comunidad del valle," "a song for cesar," the premiere is almost out, stay with us.

carlos santana: you're either part of the problem or part of the solution. there ain't no in between. ♪ will i be forever young ♪ ♪ and will my soul be free? ♪♪ luis valdez: we said somewhere along the line, beware of a movement that sings. taj mahal: oh man, it was so exciting. the musicians were excited, the people were excited. damian: oh, i'm getting chills just watching that ten-second cold open, if you will, here on "comunidad del valle." that's "a song for cesar," it's a new documentary. it's gonna premiere on this coming month, october, at the mill valley film festival. with me now on the show are abel sanchez, who is the creator of this project,

also andres alegria, who's a producer, and professor david carrasco, a doctor at harvard university who are here on the show. gentlemen, welcome to "comunidad del valle." abel sanchez: thank you, thank you, good to be here. damian: and i've seen this already, abel, and i get-- i got chills when i saw it, and then i see the ten-second trailer that we just showed, and you get chills again. it must be just as emotional for you, even though you--even if you've seen it probably about 20 times already. abel: yeah, it-- thank you, thank you for having us, damian. it's extremely exciting you know, for me, number one as a musician and collaborating with my dear friend jorge santana, who passed unfortunately, but he, over 50 years him and i have been friends and i have been friends, and we happened to create this, write this song together that inspired basically this documentary. and you know, it's like, it's kind of, for me, kind of a dream come true,

because almost full circle, i remember with cesar back at the beginnings when we were doing--there were concerts to help promote and support, you know, the cause of the farm worker and his legacy, what he was about, and dolores huerta, they formed the ufw. and you know, so that beginnings, which was years ago, and then writing this song years later because cesar was my hero, you know, as a mexican, young mexican in san francisco. i had some pride, i had a sense of pride, and cesar was instrumental in giving me that sense of pride, and i think that's what motivated me later, years later now, to do this film. that's been the driving force to spread that legacy, that message for current and future generations, the younger generations that may be a little bit disconnected and don't really know the importance of that movement,

you know, and all-- everything that it stood for. so, i'm extremely pleased, because this film tells that story once again, and combines it with music and the arts, and we'll move on to explain more, but it's just--i'm over the mountain with joy. damian: yeah, no, i bet then. and it does exactly that. dr. carrasco, you and i both have seen this documentary, and my first impression was, "i'm gonna watch another cesar chavez documentary," which is great. but this was a little different because of that fusion between music and the art the movimiento itself. what was your take from it? david carrasco: well, my take is that this film is an example of what i like to say, how the new demography of the united states can lead to a better democracy. but what i mean by that is at the very beginning of the film, maya angelou says, you know, "everybody should see this film," and she mentions the different ethnic groups in the country. and one of the reasons that everybody should see the film is that this film shows how mexican americans and filipino

farmworkers, they were feeding everybody. it shows how these workers were not only, you know, struggling to get better conditions, but they were contributing to everybody in the country, because they were feeding people all over the country, and that's one of the reasons that people all over the country will benefit from seeing this film, because they'll learn how they were fed by farmworkers, because farmworkers in california don't just feed the people in california, and what this film does is not only shows that, but it uses music and art and poetry and dance to carry that message forward. damian: it really does. let's show a clip, it's about a two-minute clip, it's a trailer of this documentary, and here it is. ♪ as i walk along this land, ♪ ♪ i wonder what we'll be. ♪ ♪ will i be forever set, and will my soul be free? ♪ malaquias montoya: we didn't know who we were. we were seeking identity. cesar chavez gave us that.

♪ will my children reach the promise of equality? ♪ joan baez: i think the deciding factor in whether you're gonna make real social change or not is risk. are you willing to take a risk? and the farmworkers took the risks. ♪ as i walk along this land, i wonder what i'll see. ♪ ♪ see my brothers struggling struggling to be free. ♪ carlos: you're either part of the problem, or part of the solution. there ain't no in between. ♪ will i be forever young and will my soul be free? ♪♪ luis: we said somewhere along the line, beware of a movement that sings. taj: oh man, it was so exciting. the musicians were excited, the people were excited. dolores huerta: even though we don't know where this journey is going to end, we know that this journey is going to be successful, even if it takes a long time to get there. cheech marin: art was integral to this project right from the very beginning because artists are naturally drawn to

those causes that are pure, they're naturally drawn to them, and they're--whether they're writers or they're musicians or they're actors or they're poets or they're painters, naturally they're drawn to that. maya angelou: cesar chavez, his dreams, his hopes, his designs, his work will live as long as we who are alive keep it alive. damian: well, been waiting now for a long time, and the premiere is finally here, it's happening on october 15, 6:30 p.m. at the mill valley film festival. there is a website, songforcesar.com. we'll be back and talk more about this fantastic documentary when we continue, stay with us.

damian: all right, we're back here on "comunidad del valle," and as a producer, andres, a lot of patience, right, because this is--this was a long time in coming

it took you a long time to put this together for its release here on october 15. andres: it did. we worked on this for, you know, ten, fifteen years. actually, we, you know, we were doing it not as professional filmmakers. i'm in the field of television and film, abel's a musician, and so he hadn't really worked on something like this before, but we knew that this was something that was important that we wanted to do, and that there were a lot of people out there who had worked with the farmworker's movement, artists, musicians, actors, et cetera, who had a story to tell, and so we took our time, we didn't, you know, we did it as a labor of love. we didn't raise a lot of money to make this film.

we took our time and got the stories from people who were, really, instrumental in creating an artistic background to the struggle of the farmworkers. and that's the story that is in the film, and it was well worth the time and effort that we put into it, i think. damian: and abel, i don't know if they allow eastsiders over in mill valley, but if they don't, where--you know, people are gonna wanna know, where can i see this? where can people, if they can't go to the film festival, will it be on pbs, will it be on netflix, people wanna know-- i know that's a lot, whole new project that kicks off, but what do you envision here? abel: yes, well, everybody is allowed and welcome to the-- you know, so come and join us, 'cause we'll be there,

like you said, friday october 15 in mill valley at the sequoyah theater, that's where there'll be the premiere screening and then immediately after, just so everybody knows, we'll be--they're having a performance at the sweetwater, which is right down the block from the mill valley film, and we'll have a special surprise that night, we have people from the film, actually, and a bunch of all-star musicians that are gonna perform music from the film and other music just to have a great night of music, that's at the sweetwater music hall also in mill valley. so, that's kind of what's on the plate for that night, but as far as your question too, we are in discussion now with pbs and "american masters," there's some good possibility that next year they'll be releasing the film, and so people nationwide will be able to see it, which has really been one of our goals and dreams. so, that's coming together, and in the meantime,

there are probably gonna be virtual events. education-wise, a lot of the universities, as the result of the great support of dr. carrasco there, professor carrasco, that--who has helped us and connected us with some educational output, universities and whatnot, so that's really exciting. because that's, that's been the driving goal too, is education, to get this out to as many students and people out there in the states and the world, but primarily here, starting in the united states, to get this message out. so, education is one of our real goals, and that's happening too. so, it'll be individual-- you know, on virtual, excuse me, virtual, and also, we're gonna do some live community events which will be in areas like san jose, you know, up and down california, chicago, back east. so, we're excited, because it's coming to fruition to get this film out. many, many ways.

damian: yeah, and we're talking when we're talking-- go ahead, andres. andres: it'll also be in theaters. it'll be in theaters, we're thinking possibly as early as december, selected theaters around the country. damian: all right, well, looking forward to that, then. if you can, dr. carrasco, i know we're talking about institutions like yours, maybe, showing the film as well, we're talking about students who were not around, you know, when cesar was alive, 1993, so they would have to be 28 years old. so, it's important for them, i guess, you're gonna say that they educate themselves if they haven't already on what the movimiento was all about. david: exactly, and this is why this project is such an important addition to the educational efforts that we're having across the country to inform the next generation of latinos and others about their own heritage, and the parents and the grandparents who have brought them to this point.

and one thing about this film is that, as i said, it's entertaining it's very entertaining but it's also very educational, and what the filmmakers have done is they have presented a wide array of people from different races and different artistic styles to tell the story. therefore, so the education that you get from this is not only deep in terms of history, but it's wide in terms of culture participation, and i think that this film will be shown at many, many universities in the future, not only this year, but for many years to come. and for that, we really owe a debt of gratitude to abel and andres. damian: absolutely, well, again, now, this is premiering at the mill valley film festival, and if you like it, it's on october 15, so it's at 6:30 o'clock, you can stop by and enjoy the film, and then enjoy some music by some chicano all-stars and maybe more than that. there is a web address also, songforcesar.com. we'll be back to wrap it up when we continue here

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because we're building a better network every single day. damian: and we're back here on "comunidad del valle." i wanna ask you, each of you the same question, we'll start with abel, what do you want folks to get out of this film once they see it, abel? abel: for me, i think a learning of the principles and cesar's core values and of all that movement. i think that's the biggest thing is to, for the young folks, and all participants, all audience, to kind of take a look at what they're doing themselves in terms of service like cesar and all the people in the farmworker movement who were involved with it, helped it. i think that's the biggest thing the spiritual look at "what am i doing today to help society? what am i doing to help better my brothers and sisters? what can i do to contribute?" and to me that's the core of what this film can teach a lot of people, or maybe remind them, what am i doing today to help society and to make the world a better place?

and that's my goal on the inside. damian: no, that's good, and it goes on-- along with cesar's thinking and his commitment to service. and he said, his family says, "cesar chavez day is not a day off, it's a day on to see what you can do for your community." andres, what would you like folks to go home with? andres: well, i would hope that, especially young people would see that there were people that used what they loved, which is the musicians, their music, and the artists, their painting et cetera, they used what they loved to become part of the movement. in other words, there is power in the art, and it's a really clear and powerful way of getting involved in fixing things that are wrong and there's plenty of things that are going wrong around today in this country.

and i would hope that young people would see that if they have a talent, an artistic talent, that there is a way to use it to participate in society and to help, as abel said, make things better. damian: yeah, no, our schools are losing the grip of the arts, and this is a good reminder that we need to hold onto that grip. dr. carrasco, your thoughts, your vision on what you hope people get out of this? david: so, early in the film, one of the artists says about himself in the '60s, "we were looking for identity, and cesar chavez gave us that identity," and i think students can go away with this loose sense of identity, they can be inspired. but in order to have that identity, they have to respond to something that jorge says in the beginning of the film. he talks about what he calls the cry. he says, "this film is about the cry. it's the cry of the instruments, it's the cry of cesar,

it's the cry of the farmworkers." the notion of the cry is very deep and long in mexican history. we call it el grito, and what we want these students to do is to answer the cry, not only the cry of the film, but the cry of the injustice that's still taking place for the people who are represented in this film, and i think that's what's really crucial. for this film, this is the message of the film. please answer the cry. damian: very good point, thank you sir. and finally, abel, we, in the in the opening shot of the trailer, we see gabe monzo and jorge jamming away. i would imagine that part of your dedication of this film is to the memory of jorge. abel: actually, it's probably the prime, for me, the prime dedication of this film, for jorge santana. he just was a brilliant, brilliant guitar player and a beautiful person, you know. and like dr. carrasco said about the cry, his--

he was so proud and happy to have been part of this song with a message that, for younger folks to take a look at their art, as andres had said, and how they can contribute. he said, "that's--this is the best thing i could do with my guitar, is through the notes establish my plea, my cry, and let you know who i am." so, jorge, and gabriel manzo is the same, he's also very, very similar to jorge in many ways, and i've been honored, and it's been such a pleasure to have him on board with our all-star band for quite a few years, supporting concerts we've done to help promote this film and this message, so, yeah, i'm glad you mentioned those two dear brothers, because they're very important to this project. damian: yeah, i know that both of them, when you bring up the--if they can contribute to the causa, it's never hesitation, they were--gabe is always able and willing and jorge was always able and--

gentlemen, you don't know what an honor it has been to have you on, we thank you so much for being on the show. abel: thank you, damian, appreciate it very much. damian: thank you, let's show you that information once again. it'll be showcased at the film festival there in mill valley, october 15 at 6:30, you can log on to songforcesar.com for more information, and again, watch it on the big screen as well, watch it on pbs one day, and it'll--it's gonna be big, and your children and my children should see it as well. we thank you once again for sharing a part of your sunday with us. if you wanna get ahold of us, you can follow me on twitter, my handle is @newsdamian, on instagram it's @newsdamiantrujillo, and also pick up a copy of el observador newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you for sharing a part of your sunday, once again we'll see you back here next week. [speaking spanish]

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