July 29, 2004
By Letisia Márquez & Kelly Graml

Note to Editors: Media interested in attending the event should contact Letisia Márquez, 310-206-3986, or Kelly Graml, 310-206-8588

The UCLA Film and Television Archive and UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center present the world premiere of the newly restored Chicano film "Please, Don't Bury Me Alive! ("¡Por Favor, No Me Entierren Vivo!") at UCLA's James Bridges Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 4. The film screens for the public as part of the archive's 12th Festival of Preservation and in association with the Chicano Cinema Recovery Project.

Directed in 1977 by pioneering filmmaker Efraín Gutiérrez, "Please, Don't Bury Me Alive!" is the first Chicano-directed feature film and a landmark example of independent cinema in the United States. Shot in San Antonio over a four-year period on a $60,000 budget, the film grossed more than $300,000 in the Spanish-language theater circuit in the Southwest and outperformed Hollywood releases in some markets.

"Gutiérrez's films represent a unique instance of a bilingual regional cinema in the United States, one whose emphasis on social dramas makes innovative use of extensive documentary passages of popular culture, music and urban life," said Chon Noriega, director of the Chicano Studies Research Center. "Not only do they provide a 'slice of barrio life' in San Antonio in the 1970s, the circumstances of their creation and distribution are themselves historically remarkable."

Noriega will introduce the Aug. 4 program and moderate an audience discussion with the director after the screening.

"Please, Don't Bury Me Alive!" broke the monopoly the Mexican film industry had on the U.S. Spanish-language theater circuit, giving rise to the Mexican independent film movement as U.S.-based theater owners became involved in production. Gutiérrez's grassroots marketing and distribution campaign also provided a model for Chicano filmmakers in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gutiérrez's only documentary film, a short titled "La Onda Chicana" ("The Chicano Wave"), also has been restored and will screen on the Aug. 4 program. "La Onda Chicana" documents La Revolución Chicana, a concert at Port Lavaca, Texas, on July 4, 1976, featuring many pioneers of the Tex-Mex sound.

The film screening is part of the UCLA Film and Television Archive's 12th Festival of Preservation. More than 100 feature films, television and animation programs, and short subjects - all recently restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive - will be screened during the festival.

Additional information about all programs in the festival is available by calling (310) 206-FILM or visiting www.cinema.ucla.edu .

About the Chicano Cinema Recovery Project

Originating in the 1960s, nearly all Chicano cinema was produced independently, making it one of the most sustained and prolific independent film movements in the United States. But given their independent roots, Chicano-produced films are "orphan films," falling outside the protection of the major studios and television networks, and until recently there had been no coordinated effort to preserve the works.

To address this oversight, the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center launched the Chicano Cinema Recovery Project, a multi-year initiative to identify, preserve and make accessible the independent productions of Chicano and Latino filmmakers. The Chicano Cinema Recovery Project is funded by The Rockefeller Foundation, The Ford Foundation and UCMEXUS, The University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States.

There is increasing recognition in the archival community of the great aesthetic, historical and social value of films representing ethnic minorities in the United States.

"We see an urgent need to preserve and archive Chicano-produced films as a part of our national film heritage," said Tim Kittleson, director of the archive. "These films represent a singular exploration of cultural identity that produces new forms of expression."

About director Efraín Gutiérrez

Gutiérrez came to cinema by way of Chicano teatro, or community-based theater. After a brief stint in Hollywood - which ended when he refused a stereotypical role in John Wayne's "The Cowboys" (1972) - Gutiérrez next worked on one of the many Mexican-produced "Chicano exploitation" films shot along the border. These experiences made him realize that in order to tell a Chicano story he would have to go it alone. He then taught himself how to shoot and edit, while raising funds and in-kind support, including $10,000 from the American Lutheran Church to purchase a camera.

The profit Gutiérrez earned from "Please, Don't Bury Me Alive!" enabled him to shoot two additional feature films in the 1970s. All three works were presumed lost or destroyed until they were recovered in the late 1990s. Through the Chicano Cinema Recovery Project, "Chicano Love Is Forever" (1977) and "Please, Don't Bury Me Alive!" (1977) already have been restored, and work has begun on "Run, Tecato, Run" (1979).

About "Please, Don't Bury Me Alive!" and "La Onda Chicana"

"Please, Don't Bury Me Alive!" provides a "slice of barrio life" about the dilemmas facing a young Chicano in the spring of 1972. The protagonist, Alejandro Hernández (Gutiérrez), has just buried his brother, who was killed in Vietnam. Caught between inadequate education and scant job opportunities, Hernández drifts into a life of petty crime, whereupon an undercover police officer sets him up for a heroin deal. He then faces a biased judicial system, receiving a 10-year sentence, while an Anglo youth receives probation for a similar offense. In a series of silent reaction shots, the smiling judge is revealed to be the same person who presided over Hernández's brother's funeral. The one ray of hope comes after the credits, in which a final line notes that Hernández becomes eligible for parole in May 1976.

"La Onda Chicana" ("The Chicano Wave") documents La Revolución Chicana, a 1976 Texas concert featuring Little Joe y la Familia, Chacha Jimenez y Los Chachos, Snowball & Company, La Fabrica, Esteban Jordan and other pioneers of the Tex-Mex sound. Gutiérrez was one of the first to coin the term "Tejano" to define this music, but decided to make a statement through his insistent use of the word "Chicano," linking the concert and music to the Chicano civil rights movement, which limited the film's distribution at the time.

About the 12th Festival of Preservation

More than 100 feature films, television and animation programs, and short subjects - all recently restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive - will be screened during the festival.

Programs will be presented at the James Bridges Theater in Melnitz Hall, on the northeast corner of the UCLA campus, near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hilgard Avenue.

Tickets are available at the theater one hour before show time. The cost is $7 for general admission; $5 for students, seniors and UCLA Alumni Association members with ID. Advance tickets are available for $8 at www.cinema.ucla.edu .

Parking is available adjacent to the James Bridges Theater in Lot 3 for $7; there is free parking on Loring Avenue after 6 p.m. daily.