American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez – About the documentary
American Masters Pictures Celebrates its 10th Anniversary with the World Premiere of American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival
The WNET Group has announced the world premiere of American Masters’ newest film American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, marking the theatrical imprint’s 10th anniversary since it launched at the premier festival for indie films. American Pachuco will make its broadcast premiere as a co-presentation of VOCES and American Masters in Fall 2026 on PBS.
Directed by David Alvarado, American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez, chronicles how Valdez illuminated the Mexican-American experience on stage and screen, transforming the American cultural landscape. In 1965, Valdez created the Chicano theater company El Teatro Campesino alongside the United Farm Workers. In 1979, Valdez became the first Chicano director to have a play presented on Broadway when “Zoot Suit” premiered in New York; he then went on to write and direct the hit 1987 film “La Bamba.” Winner of the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, American Pachuco features extensive interviews with Valdez and is narrated by Edward James Olmos, who starred in the original production of “Zoot Suit.”
American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez joins 12 other films to debut under the American Masters Pictures banner at the Sundance Film Festival. Previous films include Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (2016), Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise (2016), Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny (2016), Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019), Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (2019), N Scott Momaday: Words from a Bear (2019), Ailey (2021), Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir (2021), Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio: This Is the Way We Rise (2021), Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It (2021), Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV (2023) and Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (2025).
“Over the last decade, with Michael Kantor at the helm, American Masters Pictures has championed bold independent films that illuminate the artists that have shaped our cultural identity,” said Stephen Segaller, Vice President of Programming at The WNET Group. “Marking our 10th anniversary at Sundance with American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez is especially fitting, as Valdez’s groundbreaking work embodies the creativity, representation, and storytelling at the heart of our mission — made possible by the continued support for public media.”
Now in its 39th season, American Masters has earned 28 Emmy Awards — including 10 for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series and five for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special — 12 Peabodys, an Oscar, three Grammys, two Producers Guild Awards and many other honors. To further explore the lives and works of more than 300 masters past and present, the American Masters website offers full episodes, film outtakes, filmmaker interviews, the podcast “American Masters: Creative Spark,” educational resources, digital original series and more. The series is a production of The WNET Group.
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