''I Am Joaquín'' is a 1969 short film by

Luis Valdez Luis Miguel Valdez (born June 26, 1940) is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director and actor. Regarded as the father of Chicano film and theater, Valdez is best known for his play '' Zoot Suit'', his movie '' La Bamba'', and his cre ...

, a project of his

El Teatro Campesino El Teatro Campesino (Spanish for "The Farmworker's Theater") is a Chicano theatre company in California. Performing in both English and Spanish, El Teatro Campesino was founded in 1965 as the cultural arm of the United Farm Workers and the Chicano M ...

Summary

It is based on the poem " I Am Joaquín" by

Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzáles Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales (June 18, 1928 – April 12, 2005) was a Mexican Americans, Mexican-American Boxer (boxing), boxer, poet, political organizer, and activist. He was one of many leaders for the Crusade for Justice in Denver, Colorado. T ...

, a key text of the

Chicano movement The Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento, was a social and political movement in the United States inspired by prior acts of resistance among people of Mexican descent, especially of Pachucos in the 1940s and 1950s, and the Black ...

Reception and legacy

In 2010, this film was selected for the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". ''I Am Joaquin'' was preserved by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

in 2017.

External links

* *''I Am Joaquin'' essay by Daniel Eagan In America's Film Legacy, 2009-2010: A Viewer's Guide To The 50 Landmark Movies Added To The National Film Registry In 2009-10, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2011, pages 124-12

References

{{Luis Valdez 1969 films 1969 short films American short films Films based on poems United States National Film Registry films Films directed by Luis Valdez 1960s English-language films 1969 independent films