American Labor Activist Dolores Huerta's Documentary Shows Women, Country, World, "¡SI, Se
— "Women Cannot Be Written Out Of History" —
Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized.
Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century—and she continues the fight to this day, at 87.
With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother, the documentary film "Dolores" reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one’s life to social change. The film was directed by Peter Bratt.
Raising 11 children while wrestling with gender bias, union defeat and victory, and nearly dying after a San Francisco Police beating, Dolores Huerta bucks 1950s gender conventions to co-found the country's first farm workers union with fellow organizer Cesar Chavez
Through it all, and still to this day, Dolores emerges with a vision that connects her new found feminism with racial and class justice.
Like so many powerful female advocates, Dolores and her sweeping reforms were and still are largely overlooked. Even as she empowered a generation of immigrants to stand up for their rights, her own relentless work ethic was constantly under attack.
False accusations from foes and friends alike, of child neglect and immoral behavior from a woman who married three times, pushed Dolores out of the very union she helped create. Regardless, she remains as steadfast in her fight as ever nearing her ninth decade on earth.
The film's limited nationwide release is Sept. 1, 2017.
Peter Bratt's provocative and energizing documentary challenges this incomplete, one-sided history and reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing ones life to the fight for justice.
Interweaving archival footage with interviews from Dolores and her contemporaries, the film sets the record straight on one of the most effective and undervalued civil and labor rights leaders in modern U.S. history.
Photos and film poster art courtesy of PBS Distribution, Carlos Santana, and 5 Stick Films
Meet The Filmmakers of "Dolores"
