CESAR'S LAST FAST is a Sundance feature documentary about the private sacrifice and spiritual conviction behind César Chavez’s struggle for the humane treatment of America’s farmworkers. A panorama of Mexican American and American history, civil rights, non-violent protest tactics, the environment, labor struggles, Catholic and Indigenous religious practices, this important documentary gives students unprecedented insight into Chavez's life and the historic farmworker movement. By featuring never-before-seen footage of Chavez’s 1988 “Fast for Life,” a 36-day act of self-imposed penance, CESAR'S LAST FAST gives viewers a detailed and intimate account of Chavez' response to the resistance he faced in his all-consuming quest to stop growers from spraying pesticide on farmworkers. For young people, the film is a moving introduction to a pioneering social justice movement, and the individuals and communities who continue to creatively confront the inequalities they face every day.
Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies | Reviewed by Guillermo Martínez Sotelo "Desde los primeros intentos de organización de Chávez, pasando por la huelga contra los productores de uva y su famosa marcha, a manera de peregrinación, hasta la ciudad de Sacramento entre marzo y abril de 1966; hay una gran abundancia de material fílmico que ha sido incluido en este documental. Si algo sirve de hilo conector entre las épocas y las imágenes son las entrevistas que Perez realizó para este trabajo."
The New York Times | Reviewed by Andy Webster "'I think I know what my mission is,' says the labor leader Cesar Chavez in Cesar’s Last Fast. 'Righting the wrongs that were committed against workers for 100 years.' Chavez (1927-1993), a founder of what became theUnited Farm Workers union, faced brutal odds, as this compelling documentary demonstrates."
Video Librarian: 'Highly recommended' Aud: C, P. (P. Hall) "The focus of Richard Ray Perez’s riveting film is labor leader Cesar Chavez’s highly publicized 36-day “Fast for Life,” during which he consumed only water. This action, undertaken in the summer of 1988, was presented as an act of public penance for not having done enough to prevent agricultural companies from spraying pesticides on members of Chavez’s United Farm Workers (UFW)—many of whom traced cancer and birth defects to the excessive use of agricultural chemicals. Perez’s documentary, which was shown at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, offers a deeply moving study of Chavez’s dramatic ordeal, while simultaneously tracing his tumultuous efforts to change federal law and allow the predominantly immigrant farm workers to organize into a union. UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, actor Martin Sheen, movie and theater director Luis Valdez, and members of Chavez’s family provide insight into the strategies used by Chavez to unite the disenfranchised laborers. The 1988 hunger strike was not Chavez’s first as an act of civil disobedience, but extensive media coverage and public support from figures (including Rev. Jesse Jackson) helped to make Chavez’s actions a gripping news story. Presenting both the full-length version and a 54-minute abridgement, this documentary offers an excellent portrait of one of the most influential figures in the modern American labor movement. Highly recommended."
Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) | Reviewed by Cassandra Mackie "This documentary gives us a complex look at Chavez and the migrant workers’ rights movement that he helped create. This documentary is highly recommended for academic, large public library collections or public libraries with Chicano or Mexican-American collections."
Citation
Main credits
Pérez, Richard Ray (film producer)
Pérez, Richard Ray (film director)
Pérez, Richard Ray (screenwriter)
Parlee, Lorena (film producer)
Parlee, Lorena (film director)
O'Brien, Molly (film producer)
Other credits
Co-written by Jean-Philippe Boucicaut, Lewis Erskine; edited by Jean-Philippe Boucicaut, Lewis Erskine, Christopher S. Johnson; music by Ed Barguiarena; cinematography by James Chressanthis, Byron Shah; executive producer, Lyn Davis Lear, Molly O'Brien, Richard Ray Perez; co-producer, Lisa Remington.
