Drawing inspiration from Watsonville’s vibrant murals and the enduring legacy of generations of Mexica dancers, the Watsonville Film Festival proudly presents three powerful films. Together, they honor the renowned Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco and celebrate the Watsonville artists and cultural bearers who continue to embody art as a form of resistance. Filmmakers will be in attendance. Free events with limited capacity. First come, first serve.

SCHEDULE

12:00 PM - Orozco: Hombre de Fuego - Screening in Spanish

1:30 PM - Short films: Strawberry Picker -  featuring Watsonville artist Juan Fuentes, and

Xilonen: The Ceremony of Tender Corn featuring the White Hawk Aztec Dancers - Bilingual screening

2:30 PM - Orozco: Man of Fire - Screening in English

MORE ABOUT THE FILMS

Orozco: Man of Fire | Hombre de Fuego

Dir. Laurie Coyle

A vibrant documentary film about the Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco, whose Man of Fire mural is known as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas. Orozco's story is played out against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, the Great Depression and both World Wars. The artist survived the loss of his left hand and the destruction of two thirds of his early work by U.S. border agents. He and his colleagues Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros launched the Mexican mural movement that captured the imagination of Depression era America. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt put American artists to work on public walls during the 1930s, he looked to the Mexican mural renaissance as a model.

Strawberry Picker

Dir. Eugenia Rentería

Strawberry Picker is a short documentary depicting the life story of little boy growing up in labor camps in the Pajaro Valley to become a world-class artist. This films looks at generations of struggle and resilience in the Chicano Art Community through the experiences of master printmaker Juan R. Fuentes. His artwork now has a permanent and prominent place in the landscape of Watsonville thanks to the Magnificent Mosaic Mural. Fuentes was the director of Mission Grafica at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco. His prints and posters reside in various institutions and museums including the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the San Francisco Fine Arts Museum and the Library of Congress.

Xilonen: The Ceremony of Tender Corn

Dir. Consuelo Alba

This short documentary follows the Xilonen, a beautiful coming of age ceremony honoring young women that the White Hawk Aztec Dancers have celebrated it in Watsonville for nearly 45 years. Girls and young women participating in this pre-Hispanic coming-of-age ritual go through months of training to perform Aztec dances and learn about cultural identity, responsibility and community service. The film features striking images and sounds of the three-day ceremony, while three generations of women speak about their own experiences and the impact of this tradition on the community.