S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S This outstanding series celebrating the history, culture and struggles of Latino Americans is now available on DVD and online with lesson plans and other resources for schools, libraries and community centers. The critically acclaimed PBS series, winner of the 2013 Peabody award is narrated by Benjamin Bratt. It is the first major documentary series for television to chronicle the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos, who have helped shape the United States over the last 500plus years and have become, with more than 50 million people, the largest minority group in the U.S. Bratt, the son of a Peruvian mother and a German-English father, and a multi-award winner for his work on television’s “Law & Order” and in such films as Pinero and Traffic, will narrate LATINO AMERICANS, which is led by Emmy Awardwinning series producer Adriana Bosch. A team of filmmakers document the evolution of a new “Latino American” identity from the 1500s to the present day, with interviews with close to 100 Latinos from the worlds of politics, business and pop culture, as well as deeply personal portraits of Latinos who lived through key chapters in American history. “It is time the Latino American history be told,” said Bosch, a Cuban-born filmmaker whose previous PBS projects include LATIN MUSIC U.S.A. and documentaries for the series AMERICAN EXPERIENCE on Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Cuban leader Fidel Castro. “Latinos are an integral part of the U.S., and this series shares the stories of a rich collection of people coming from so many different countries and backgrounds. It is the story of Latinos, and it is the story of America.” LATINO AMERICANS features interviews with an array of individuals, including entertainer Rita Moreno, the Puerto Rican star of West Side Story and a winner of Academy, Tony, Grammy and Emmy Awards; labor leader and 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Dolores Huerta, who in the 1960s co-founded with César Chávez the National Farm Workers Association, which later became United Farm Workers of America; Mexican-American author and commentator Linda Chávez, who became the highestranking woman in the Reagan White House; and Cuban singer and entrepreneur Gloria Estefan, who has sold more than 100 million solo and Miami Sound Machine albums globally. Interview subjects also include journalist María Elena Salinas, co-anchor of “Noticiero Univision,” the nightly newscast most watched by American Latinos; columnist Juan Gonzalez, author of Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America and cofounder of the Young Lords Organization, a Puerto Rican nationalist movement; Rep. Charles Gonzalez, a retired Texas congressman who from 1999-2012 served in the House of Representatives for the district that his father, Henry B. Gonzalez, represented for nearly four decades; and Herman Badillo, the Bronx politician who, in 1970, became the first Puerto Rican elected to the House of Representatives and ran six times for Mayor of New York. The diversity of the Latino American experience is reflected in both the on-camera interview subjects and the filmmaking staff. The production team, most of who are Latino Americans, includes individuals who are of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran and Dominicans heritage, among others. In addition to Bratt as the narrator, award-winning composer and classical guitarist Joseph Julián González composes the musical score and the acclaimed singer-songwriter Lila Downs is the featured artist for the series, performing the closing song in the documentary series. González has scored films and television programs for more than 20 years. Of Mexican farm laborer origins in California’s LATINO EXPERIENCES ILLUMINATE OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY AND ITS STRUGGLE TO LIVE UP TO ITS IDEALS. – Landmark Six-Hour Documentary Features Interviews with Nearly 100 Latinos and More Than 500 Years of History. – (Actor Benjamin Bratt, narrator. Credit: Matt Carr/Getty Images) PBS SERIES “LATINO AMERICANS”
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