Luis Valdez – Coming full circle at 2026 Sundance Film Festival

PARK CITY, Utah — Among the first premieres at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in Park City was the documentary “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez.” Luis Valdez’s movie “Zoot Suit” was featured at the U.S. Film and Video Festival in 1981, the year the festival that later became the Sundance Film Festival moved to Park City. What a great way to bring history full circle.

Director David Alvarado presents historical footage mixed in with interviews that tell a complex story of Luis Valdez and his brother as they grew up Chicano in America starting with pretending his lunch was a sandwich. Despite starting college as a science major, Luis Valdez switched to being an English major and proceeded to fight against stereotypes and portray Chicanos’ humanity in his plays and films.

Luis Valdez worked in the fields with farm workers and Cesar Chavez and used his plays to push for change. The interviews provide insight into what Luis Valdez was thinking at the time and put the viewer right into the events occurring at the time.

While Alvarado’s movie could have been a straight history lesson, he created a pachuco narrator to comment throughout the film to point out exactly what is going on. This tribute to Luis Valdez is an artwork in itself and highlights Luis Valdez’s message that not only  are Chicanos Americans, “America is Chicano.”

You may not have heard of “Zoot Suit” but surely “La Bamba” rings a bell. You can still catch this movie on Jan. 30 and 31.