'Pocho' Patchwork

'Visiones'

Come on out to the One World Theatre for a sneak peek at Héctor Galán's next epic project -- Visiones -- a terrific odyssey through the patchwork quilt of Latino culture in the U.S. of A. Galán has been dubbed the "Hispanic Ken Burns" for his many PBS-broadcast films on wide-ranging issues involving the country's Latino population, including Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement (1996). He'll screen 10 segments (about 70 minutes) of Visiones, as a work-in-progress that, when completed, will be broadcast as a three-hour PBS special sometime next year.

Be prepared to fill some gaps in your knowledge of the roots of familiar Latino contributions to the American culture scene, music being one of the more obvious ones. Visiones has segments on the Cuban "Miami Sound" and Lalo Guerrero, one of the fathers, in the Forties, of Chicano music of the Southwest. There's also a segment on prolific indie filmmaker Willie Varela. Then there are artists in Latino communities from coast-to-coast who are doing things creative, outré or mainstream, that chances are you're unfamiliar with: Ever heard of Rokafella, the New York hip-hop dancer? Or Evelyn Cisneros, prima ballerina with the San Francisco Ballet? "We're so narrow in our thinking," says Galán. "As a Chicano in the Southwest, for instance, I see the world in a particular way -- my relationships to Anglos and my place here, but, of course, the Puerto Rican experience in New York or the Cuban exile experience in Miami is totally different."

La carpa, meaning "tent," is a little-known but fascinating form of traveling theatrical entertainment that began in the Twenties and spanned more than 30 years. La Carpa Garcia, profiled in a Visiones segment with interviews from surviving members as well as terrific archival photography, is historically hailed as one of the more popular and long-standing Mexican tent shows from this era. This group traveled and performed in California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas, eventually settling in San Antonio. "Carpa was early vaudeville," explains Galán. "They did circus, comedy, drama, Greek tragedy, and parody -- which was probably one of their most important roles, because, for many, they were the source of news of what was going on in the world."

The Carpa segment features UT drama department playwright Amparo Garcia-Crow, who is developing a musical production called La Carpa Garcia because she finds carpa an excellent vehicle for filling the vacuum of meaningful Latino acting roles for students, as well as for fleshing out and portraying realistically -- warts and all -- significant, if less well-known, characters in Latino history. One such historical figure portrayed in Garcia-Crow's Carpa production is Chicano lawyer Gus Garcia, the first Latino to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, whose stellar career as an advocate was cut short by his alcoholism.

Then there's the widely syndicated Latino cartoonist Lalo Lopez Alcaraz. The guy who takes a lot of heat from Latinos because he tells it like it is, pulling no punches. He's got a Web site called Pocho.com, pocho being the derogatory term that Mexican nationals often fling at Mexican-Americans for leaving their native country. "Alcaraz represents people like me," laughs Galán, "people who have been criticized for decades as squatters in this country, those who have created their own art, their own language, like Chicanese. To a lot of people, being called a pocho is an insult, but Alcaraz took this idea of pochismo and made it something to be proud of."

To assemble Visiones' vast cultural mosaic, Galán worked closely with the National Association of Latino Art and Culture and then Latino producers all over the country, developing the stories that would make it into the final cut. As executive producer, he then sent out a single production crew of three to each venue, crisscrossing the country in a van to film the segments. "For me, it was a great learning experience to bring this together," says Galán, "because, while Latinos in this country share a lot -- a language and a lot of traditions -- there are a lot of differences; we're not homogenous, even though a lot of people tend to think of 'Latino' as a big umbrella."

Segments of Visiones: Latino Art and Culture screen as part of the Texas Documentary Tour on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 7pm, at One World Theatre (7701 Bee Caves Rd.). Héctor Galán will conduct a Q&A after the screening. Tickets -- $6 for current Austin Film Society members and new members joining before the screening, as well as students; $8 for nonmembers -- are available only through One World Theatre (329-6753) by phone or at the venue one hour prior to screening. For more information, check www.austinfilm.org.