Noted filmmaker Jesús Salvador Treviño participated in and documented the most important events in the Mexican American civil rights movement of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s: the farmworkers’ strikes and boycotts, the Los Angeles school walkouts, the Chicano Youth Conference in Denver, the New Mexico land grant movement, the Chicano moratorium against the Vietnam War, the founding of La Raza Unida Party, and the first incursion of Latinos into the media. Coming of age during the turmoil of the sixties, Treviño was on the spot to record the struggles to organize students and workers into the largest social and political movement in the history of Latino communities in the United States.
As important as his documentation of historical events is his self-reflection and chronicling of how these events helped to shape his own personality and mission as one of the most renowned Latino filmmakers. Treviño’s beautifully written memoir is fascinating for its detail, insight, and heretofore undisclosed reports from behind the scenes by a participant and observer who is able to strike the balance between personal reflection and reportage.
“Noted film director and writer Treviño’s Fabulous Sinkhole is a collection of stories set primarily in Arroyo Grande, Texas, and each one is connected with the title story by a theme of accident versus coincidence. All of them contain lively, accessible language and demonstrate the author’s very gifted sense for storytelling.” –Booklist
“Trevino’s memoir covers his work as a filmmaker and activist who participated in and documented many of the more significant events of the Mexican-American civil rights movement.” -Multicultural Review
“To read the book is to get an inside look at many of the characters and events that shaped a movement that gripped much of the Southwest in the 1960s and 1970s.” -The Arizona Republic
JESÚS SALVADOR TREVIÑO is an award-winning filmmaker, renowned for his pioneering documentaries and feature films of the Chicano experience. Treviño has continued his commitment to Hispanic civil rights by serving as the executive producer of the acclaimed four-part PBS series, Chicano! The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, and as the Co-Executive Producer of the SHOWTIME drama series, Resurrection Boulevard. He has also directed such Hollywood television dramas as NYPD Blue, The Practice, Third Watch, Star Trek Voyager and many others. He is the author of a collection of stories, The Fabulous Sinkhole and Other Stories.
Learn more at chuytrevino.com/home/.
