An important chapter — and figure — in herstory is about to get some much-deserved and long-overdue attention: “Dolores” has a theatrical release date. PBS Distribution has announced that the award-winning doc about civil rights activist and American labor leader Dolores Huerta will open in New York City exclusively at IFC Center on September 1 with other cities to follow.
“An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, [Huerta’s] enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized,” the film’s official synopsis reads. “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.”
Directed by Peter Bratt (“La Mission”), “Dolores” made its world premiere at Sundance in January. It’s gone on to screen at over 20 other fests such as Hot Docs, AFI Docs, and the Athena Film Festival, and won audience awards at the San Francisco International Film Festival, Montclair Film Festival, Houston Latino Film Festival, and the Denver Women + Film Festival.
Regina K. Scully and Janet MacGillivray are among the project’s executive producers.
PBS previously announced that the doc will air on PBS’ “Independent Lens” in 2018.
“My story, it’s really the story of a lot of other people who were involved in the farmworker movement,” Huerta has said. “It was the farmworkers themselves, many of them who were arrested, who were jailed, who were beaten, who were killed, just trying to get basic human rights.”
Actor Benjamin Bratt, who is one of the doc’s producers, emphasized how sexism has played a part in why so few people are aware of Huerta’s important contributions. He observed, “On some level, the film is a correction of the historical record, as it’s been recorded thus far. Dolores’ story, other women and their impact on our culture, on who we are as a people, it’s been excised, purposefully.” He explained, “The film is a celebration of her sense of independence, the fire of her spirit, and really it’s a testament to, and a reminder that individual power, as she likes to say, is a very powerful thing not to be squandered, that if you have the commitment, and the level of self sacrifice that it takes, that anyone can activate and put positivity in the world.”
