Free for museum members.

Writer-director Luis Valdez’s follow-up to his adaptation of his own stage play Zoot Suit was the biography of Chicano icon and Los Angeles native Ritchie Valens. Portrayed by Lou Diamond Phillips in his first leading role, the film chronicles Valens’s overnight success as an impressive guitarist and songwriter, in a life that was tragically cut short. Focusing on family life, first love, and race issues of the 1950s, La Bamba features Valens’s hit songs, performed by Los Lobos for the film’s soundtrack, as it details the life of a high school student from the San Fernando Valley thrust into stardom.

LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS
Lou Diamond Phillips recently starred in the Fox series Prodigal Son, having previously starred on the acclaimed Netflix series, Longmire, based on the Walt Longmire mystery novels by Craig Johnson. Other credits include Amazon’s Goliath, FX’s You're The Worst, CBS’ Blue Bloods, and recurring roles on Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Netflix’s The Ranch. He received an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Drama or Comedy” for his roles in both Amazon’s Conversations in LA and History Channel’s Crossroads of History.
Recent film credits include the recent Amblin feature Easter Sunday, Warner Brothers’ The 33, Created Equal directed by Bill Duke, and Sundance Festival favorite Filly Brown, for which he was named Best Actor at the Imagen Awards.
Originally born in the Philippines, Phillips was raised in Texas and is a graduate of University of Texas at Arlington with a BFA in Drama.

DANIEL VALDEZ
Daniel Valdez is best known for roles in the movies La Bamba, Zoot Suit, The China Syndrome, Which Way is Up?, and Born in East L.A.. An actor, musician, composer, and musician, Daniel also co-founded the International theater El Teatro Campesino with his brother Luis Valdez. He has severed as a composer and creator of original music for films and plays, including Zoot Suit, and was featured recording artist on the Linda Ronstadt album Canciones de mi Padre. Daniel was a key producer and researcher as a driving force behind the creation of the film La Bamba.

ESAI MORALES
Esai Morales is an award-winning actor and producer, who has solidified his reputation through a series of iconic performances throughout his over four-decade career. Most recently in the critically acclaimed series Ozark and in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1.

Morales is not only a respected actor but also a known advocate for a wide variety of causes. The American actor of Puerto Rican descent’s breakthrough role of Bob Morales in La Bamba contributed to making the film the most commercially successful rock-themed biopic of all time.

Film credits include Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 (Paramount Pictures), Master Gardener (Magnolia Pictures), Superfly (Sony Pictures), Bad Boys (Universal Pictures), La Bamba (Columbia Pictures), Rapa Nui (Warner Bros.), My Family (ABC), Fast Food Nation (Fox Searchlight), Paid in Full (Dimension Films), The Line (Project One Films), Atlas Shrugged: Part II (Atlas 2 Productions), Jarhead II: Field of Fire (Universal Pictures), Death In Granada (Antena 3), Gun Hill Road (Simon Says Entertainment) (Grand Jury Nominee Sundance Film Festival 2011), Spare Parts (Lionsgate) and The Wall of Mexico (Dark Star Pictures.)

In 1997 Esai Morales co-founded the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, created to advance the presence of Latinos in the media, telecommunications and entertainment industries. The NHFA has provided scholarships to hundreds of Hispanic students for more than 2 million dollars.

Throughout his career, Esai Morales has been an advocate for countless charities and causes such as public health, literacy, environment, immigration, arts funding and social justice.

PATTY RODRIGUEZ
Patty Rodriguez is one of the most influential American Latino leaders as a nationally recognized entrepreneur, radio producer, media personality, founder, angel investor, and best-selling author who was proudly raised in Los Angeles by Mexican immigrant parents. Patty founded Lil’ Libros, the #1 family-trusted bilingual children's media publisher, inspired by her desire to teach her two beautiful boys, Alexander and Oliver, about their family’s culture and language. Her passion for uplifting her community extends beyond children's books, having made angel investments in early-stage startups and launching sin miedo productions in 2021 to elevate the voices and stories of the American Latino experience. Patty is best known as Senior Producer and On-Air Talent for the internationally syndicated radio show, "On Air With Ryan Seacrest," on iHeartMedia’s 102.7 KIIS FM Los Angeles.
@pattyrodriguez
http://www.lillibros.com/