Car Show : 3 PM Parking Lot D by Student Center
Reception: 5 - 5:45 PM: Student Center Grand Ballroom
5:45 PM: Film Panel: Student Center Grand Ballroom
6:30 PM: Film Screening: Student Center Grand Ballroom
Nearly forty years ago, a new Warner Bros. film entitled Boulevard Nights was released nationwide in theatres across the country. The story centered on a fatherless Mexican American family living in an unincorporated region of East Los Angeles, just east of Downtown L.A., steeped in gang culture. This family, consisting of two brothers and their hard working mother, is forced to come to terms with the choices made by the younger of the brothers who, seeking acceptance and a sense of identity becomes seduced by the gangster lifestyle.
At the time of it’s release, Boulevard Nightselicited a variety of reactions not only from the film industry, but from a broad spectrum of the social strata including politicians, law enforcement, educators, and Chicano activists. It’s greatest impact however, was on the Chicano Community itself. For the first time, a major Hollywood studio focused its attention on a disenfranchised section of Los Angeles less than ten miles from it’s legendary gates. A community rarely represented in mainstream media, be it television or motion pictures.
As we approach the fortieth anniversary of this iconic cinematic time capsule, the time is right to honor both the film, and its legacy, with a public screening followed by a Q&A with the remaining actors/filmmakers in association with Sonoma State University and the Sonoma Lowrider Council.
Boulevard Nights was the first major studio film to feature lowriding at the very center of its story. Lowriding is now respected and recognized internationally as a legitimate art form. Lowrider clubs have flourished and seen their numbers grow exponentially. The great majority of these clubs give back to their communities through fundraisers for a variety of worthy causes. Lowriding and community go hand in hand. Let us now cruise together, and celebrate this time honored connection. Starring Richard Yniguez, Danny De La Paz, Marta DuBois