by Antonio Mejías-Rentas
José Clemente Orozco, Gods of the Modern World (1932), part of a mural located at Dartmouth University, Hanover, New Hampshire.
MAN ON FlRE: Un documental del muralista mexicano José Clemente Orozco que se estrenará esta semana en PBS es el último de cuatro nuevos programas con temática latina en la cadena de televisión pública durante el Mes de Herencia Hispana.
Orozco: Man on Fire documents the life of perhaps the lesser known of Mexico’s three great muralists (which also included Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros). The film takes its title from Orozco’s mural Hombre de fuego in Gudalajara, Mexico; it also surveys his work in Mexico City, Pomona, California, and Dartmouth.
Narrated by Angelica Houston – herself married to Mexican sculptor Robert Graham—the film airs as part of the American Masters series and premieres Sept. 19 at 9:00 p.m. on most PBS stations (check local listings.) It is directed, written and produced 4by Laurie Coyle and Rick Tejada-Flores.
Tejada-Flores also produced and directed another American Masters film, Rivera in America, which will encore Sept, 19 at 10:00 p.m.
This month, PBS premiered three other Latino-themed films. On Independent Lens, it aired Ela Troyano’s La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul, about the legendary Cuban singer. P.O.V. aired Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar’s Made in L.A., about Los Angeles sweatshops. The network also aired Philip Rodriguez’ Brown is the New Green: George López and the American Dream, which uses the comedian to look at how marketing affects the portrayal of Latinos in media.
Outside of their premieres, many of these shows will still air on PBS stations over the following weeks. PBS is also airing encore presentations of previous Latino-themed shows.
Ironically, the public network is also touting as part of its Hispanic Heritage programming the controversial Ken Burns documentary The War which will premiere Sept. 23 with segments on Latino soldiers – added after several complaints by Latino groups over their exclusion in the original cut of the film.
TEJANA SUPERSTAR: A ten-year anniversary special edition DVD of Selena arrives in stores Sept. 18Warner Home Video features a new director’s cut of the 1997 film – released two years after the singer’s tragic death in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Gregory Nava made $35 million at the box office, setting a record for a U.S.-made Latino film.
Hispanic Link.
