Abel Franco

El Norte -- Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life. It's a story that happens every day, but until Gregory Nava's groundbreaking El Norte, the personal travails of immigrants crossing the border to America had never been shown in the movies with such urgent humanism.

Part fascinating fact, part dazzling fiction, Zoot Suit is the blistering film adaptation of playwright Luis Valdez' critically acclaimed stage drama based on the "zoot suit riots" that rocked 1940s Los Angeles. When barrio leader Henry Reyna (Daniel Valdez) and a group of his friends are unjustly convicted on circumstantial evidence and sent to San Quentin, activist lawyers Alice Bloomfield (Tyne Daly) and George Shearer (Charles Aidman) fight the blatant racially motivated miscarriage of justice to win Henry and his friends their freedom. Featuring Edward James Olmos (as the mythical "Pachuco") in the role that catapulted him to stardom, Zoot Suit is a scorchingly searing and seductively provocative work that skillfully blends action, drama, romance and music!

Carlos Mencia, Pablo Francisco and Freddy Soto headline this stand-up showcase filmed on a national comedy tour. Mencia skewers social mores, Francisco creates humor through inventive vocalizations, and Soto examines the absurdities of family life.

Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life. It?s a story that happens every day, but until Gregory Nava?s groundbreaking El Norte (The North), the personal travails of immigrants crossing the border to America had never been shown in the movies with such urgent humanism. A work of social realism imbued with dreamlike imagery, El Norte is a lovingly rendered, heartbreaking story of hope and survival, which critic Roger Ebert called "?a Grapes of Wrath for our time."