Left to right: Photos from American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez and TheyDream.
Two Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) co-productions, David Alvarado’s “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” and William D. Caballero’s “TheyDream,” which had their world premieres at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, won major awards in their categories.
“American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” won the Audience Award, U.S. Documentary, as well as the Festival Favorite Award, and “TheyDream” received the NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression.
“We are so proud of David Alvarado and William D. Caballero and these extraordinary films. It was a joy to experience them both with the Sundance audience,” said Edward James Olmos, co-founder and Chairman of the Board of LPB and narrator of “American Pachuco.” “As someone who has fought for more Latino representation throughout my career, it’s so heartening to see these films get the acclaim they so richly deserve.”
“These honors are more important than ever and remind us of LPB’s mission — empowering Latino filmmakers and telling Latino stories. We couldn’t be more delighted for filmmakers David Alvarado and William Caballero and look forward to bringing these two remarkable films to audiences on PBS,” said Sandie Viquez Pedlow, Executive Director of LPB.
“American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez,” directed by David Alvarado, 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. Fourteen years later, in 1979, Valdez became the first Chicano director to have a play presented on Broadway when his play “Zoot Suit” premiered in New York; he then went on to write and direct the hit 1987 film “La Bamba.” Winner of the prestigious 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.”
“TheyDream” is a deeply personal autobiographical documentary that celebrates how art can become a lifeline in the wake of loss. Director William D. Caballero revisits his Puerto Rican family’s history in Fayetteville, North Carolina — interweaving new 2D and 3D animations with vérité footage, archival materials and intimate mother-son conversations. Rooted in the death of his grandmother, the film follows Caballero’s grieving mother as her son invites her to use art to help heal. Through the unique blending of animation and miniatures, ranging from handcrafted figurines to digital rotoscoping and full 3D motion capture, Caballero and his mother literally transform themselves into their parents and grandparents — reanimating family stories with honesty, complexity, and love.
“American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” will premiere on PBS as a co-presentation of VOCES and AMERICAN MASTERS in Fall 2026; “TheyDream” will premiere as a VOCES presentation at a future date.
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