After a childhood of playing cantinas and honky tonks, Los Lonely Boys blazed onto the music scene with a 2004 self-titled debut release that went multi-platinum and a 2005 Grammy win for their hit single, “Heaven”. The Garza brothers- Henry, Jojo, and Ringo- have a unique signature sound they call “Texican”. Los Lonely Boys Cottonfields and Crossroads brings their amazing story to the screen.

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Hector Galan, himself a San Angelo native, fuses exciting live performances, vivid imagery of West Texas, intimate personal stories told by the band and their family, weaving a historical and cultural perspective on Los Lonely Boys, their Mexican-American roots and musical influences.

The film had its world premiere at the 2006 SXSW film festival and its West Coast Premiere at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. It was nominated for a 2007 Imagen Award for Best Documentary film and screened at the 3rd annual Turks & Caicos International Film Festival in October 2007.

National PBS Television Broadcast on Wednesday, Sept. 17th at 9:30 pm Eastern/Pacific, 8:30 pm Central time (check local PBS listings) Don’t Miss It!
Stay tuned!

Check the film’s website at:Los Lonely Boys Cottonfields and Crossroads Film Website

For Press/Reviews, go to LLB Doc/Press

Spanning a period of almost eighty years, this inspirational and compelling film captures the life and legacy of Patrick Flores, the first Mexican American to be appointed Bishop in the history of the Catholic Church. The film chronicles his childhood and early years as a migrant farm worker, high school drop out and cantina musician. Patrick Flores dreamed of becoming a priest, a nearly impossible goal for a Mexican American in those days in Texas. The film is a microcosm of the struggles and triumphs of Mexican Americans. The film captures Patrick’s amazing journey to the top hierarchy of the Catholic Church, becoming one of the most influential Latino leaders in the United States.

Now on PBS- Check your local PBS listings

TOP HONORS GO TO VISIONES AS BEST DOCUMENTARY SERIES

Visiones: Latino Art & Culture, a production of Galán Inc. and the National Association of Latino Art & Culture (NALAC), and presented on PBS by ITVS and Latino Public Broadcasting, (LPB), won the 2005 Imagen Award in the documentary category on June 17, 2005. Documentary producer Hector Galán accepted the award at the Gala ceremony presented by the Imagen Foundation held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Visiones: Latino Art & Culture is the first television series to look at the diverse contributions that U.S. Latinos have made to America’s artistic and cultural landscape. Galán Inc. brought together a talented team of top Latino producers from across the nation to collaborate with Executive Producer and Series Producer Hector Galán on this ground-breaking series.

“… a joy to watch… a story of Latinos expressing their identity, history, and culture through words, sounds, and the visual arts; some are rebelling, while others are celebrating their rich heritage. The appeal of this documentary is definitely not limited to Latinos; it speaks to a general audience.”
– David Pitt, Booklist

“From murals on the streets of Chicago and Los Angeles to hip hop dancers in New York City, from the Miami Sound to theater in Texas, the series offers a vibrant cross section of the work of Latino artists today and yesterday…will educate, entertain, and electrify viewers by their sheer creative energy.”
- MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School,
Binghamton, NY, School Library Journal

The Visiones Series presenters are the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB). Funders include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the National Endowment for the Arts the Ford Foundation, Houston Endowment, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Visiones is now available as a two disc DVD set. - check out our on-line catalog for more info. Read Visiones Press/Reviews.

For more on Visiones go to www.visiones.org

“…how sad to be born here, live here all your life, die here and not know what it is like to be an American…”
–colonia resident
Filmmaker Hector Galán takes you on a journey to the colonias. We travel into American communities where hope resides despite the fact that the streets have no names and often there is no running water or electricity.

Galán Inc.’s production of The Forgotten Americans, narrated by Henry Cisneros and produced/ directed/edited by Hector Galán, is a moving documentary special funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Forgotten Americans is a co-production of Galán Inc. and Texas State University, with Dr. Jaime Chahin, as executive producer. Forgotten Americans captures a day in the life of America’s poorest people along the Texas border who live in “colonias”. The film had its world premiere on March 17, 2000 at a special screening at the Smithsonian in Washington DC and then was nationally broadcast on PBS in December 2000 . It is now also available for purchase through our online catalog.

For more extensive information about this documentary and colonias, including Hector Galán’s filmmaker’s journal, please visit the PBS website on the Forgotten Americans

NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD WITH AN ADDITIONAL FULL HOUR OF MUSICAL PERFORMANCE FOOTAGE

“Galán profiles this infectious, often heartbreakingly beautiful music with great style and panache in this beautifully shot documentary…”
-Austin Chronicle

“One of the most important documentaries ever produced on the history of Tejano Music… a compelling thought provoking piece not to be missed.”
–San Antonio Express News

“You couldn’t ask for a more comprehensive- or more accessible- introduction to Tejano music than Songs of the Homeland.”
–Texas Monthly

“One of the strengths of Songs of the Homeland is its multigenerational reach and the way it shows how the cultural sea changes were reflected in the music.”
–City Paper, Baltimore

A special collector’s edition DVD of the Hector Galán music documentary classic, Songs of the Homeland, narrated by the Grammy Award winning Freddy Fender, and featuring such musical greats as Lydia Mendoza, Tony De La Rosa, Valerio Longoria, La Tropa F, and Mingo Saldivar, is now available for purchase on our on-line catalogue. This “must have” collector’s edition DVD of the critically acclaimed Songs of the Homeland has one full hour of exclusive bonus music performance footage featuring a selection of music performances by some of the greatest musical artists of the conjunto, orquesta, and Tejano music genres. Soon to follow will be the DVD release of the award-winning companion music documentary on the button accordion and its journey through conjunto and Tejano music, Accordion Dreams also with bonus tracks. DVD Release Date: Sept. 15, 2005.

Now available on our Catalog Website

Mingo Saldivar takes center stage in this electrifying music performance documentary that will surely make you want to dance. Produced and Directed by Hector Galán, I Love My Freedom, I Love My Texas captures the passionate spirit of one of conjunto’s most admired and popular accordion masters who is considered a National Treasure. Mingo Saldivar was honored by the National Endowment of the Arts with the highest honor- the National Heritage Fellowship for lifetime achievement in American music traditions. Mingo Saldivar and his band, los Cuatro Espadas (the Four of Spades) take us into their world and behind the scenes as they travel the highways and backroads of Texas in their RV. We go with Mingo all over- from honky tonks to Texas size dance halls.
Mingo Saldivar is known as “The Dancing Cowboy” for his unique stylized dancing moves as he pours his heart and soul into his exciting accordion style while performing. He has taken his accordion-driven conjunto all over the world. His artistic reputation has spread outside of Texas and the Southwest through performances throughout the country and in Europe, including at venues like Carnegie Hall, presidential inaugerations, at universities, and on a special tour of Africa and the Middle East sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency. He has performed extensively in northern Mexico where his fans have developed a dance in his honor, called Mingo Mania. Texas born and Texas bred, Mingo Saldivar, in a career spanning five decades, pays tribute in “I Love My Freedom, I Love My Texas”, to the very land from which conjunto music was born.

“Like conjunto music, “Accordion Dreams” will definitely move you.”
–Ramon Renteria, El Paso Times

“…an exciting look at the new generation of players.”
–Agustin Gurza, Los Angeles Times

“…both a Tejano cultural history and a heartfelt love ballad to the most maligned of instruments…”
–Marrit Ingman, The Austin Chronicle
Narrated by Tish Hinojosa
Accordion Dreams, the much anticipated follow up music documentary to Hector Galán’s classic Songs of the Homeland. Accordion Dreams had its premiere broadcast on national PBS in August 2001.

Accordion Dreams was nominated for a 2002 American Latino Media Arts (ALMA) Award in the documentary film category.
Accordion Dreams was screened throughout the country including at SXSW in Austin, Texas, CineFestival of San Antonio, ,the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival, and the Dallas Video Festival. A special screening was held at the historic La Villita DanceHall in San Benito, Texas and at the Great Plains Film Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. Accordion Dreams was honored as the “best film to explicate the Latino/ethnic heritage of the Great Plains Region” with the prestigious “Rainbow Award”.

Accordion Dreams was also selected by the American Film Institute as a program participant in the 2001 Enhanced Television Workshop, where it is being developed as a prototype in the use of new technologies for the development of interactive, digital TV.

Please visit the PBS Accordion Dreams Website for more information.

Accordion Dreams is available for purchase on our on-line catalog. Galán Inc. also has a selection of conjunto and Tejano music cds from specially selected accordion artists, including an Accordion Dreams Companion CD.

HECTOR GALÁN’S CLASSIC DOCUMENTARY ON THE ORIGINAL COWBOY- THE VAQUERO- now on DVD!

NARRATED BY HENRY DARROW

The screen is filled with visual pleasures, particularly the faces of Samuel Torres, Chanate and Wanche Alarcon, which are as dramatically contoured and weather beaten as the land that has sustained their livelihood. Galán’s intent in the story was to focus on more than just the bond between vaqueros and their ranching skills. “The land has its own beauty,” he said. “I wanted to make a portrait of the people, the work they do and the land, and the interaction of the three.”
-San Antonio Express News

The cowboy has been American’s mythical hero in countless books, television shows and films, a universally recognized symbol of America. Yet few people realize that the first cowboys in America were the Mexican American Vaqueros. They are the unsung heroes of the American West. “Vaquero” literally translated means “cowboy” in the Spanish language. These Mexican-American cowboys began their trade almost 400 years ago, shortly after the conquistadores from Spain brought horses to North America. Today, there are only a handful of these descendants of America’s first cowboys since a rapidly changing industry is quickly making this lifestyle obsolete. Shot on location in South Texas and narrated by Henry Darrow, the actor who portrayed “Manolito” from the “High Chaparral” Television Series, this documentary pays homage to a breed of men that history has overlooked as they practice a dying trade from an era gone by. Vaquero: The Forgotten Cowboy is told through the stories of these few remaining vaqueros. In the hard but beautiful environment of South Texas fifty-six miles from the Mexican border, the cattle industry is still important. Here, where the American cattle industry began, the old vaqueros faces attest to years of hard work in an unrelenting climate. In the film, vaquero Chanate Gutierrez (pictured above) says:

“All my life I’ve been on ranches, horseback all day…until ten or eleven at night sometimes…all month working, only on the last day we’d go to town to have fun…28,30 days in the brush, that’s what I miss. It’s very different now…you come back to town every night. Everything’s different.”

Although there is a sadness about the uncertain future of the vaquero, those portrayed in this film show no bitterness of resentment. In keeping with their tradition, a sense of dignity and pride prevails. “The documentary pays homage not only to the vaqueros of today, but also to the vaqueros who came before them, those who never received their due recognition,” says producer Hector Galán.

This special collector’s DVD of this now classic Hector Galán documentary (1988) has both the English and Spanish Versions of Vaquero and a bonus track of La Mujer en el Rancho, a documentary short that examines the role of women in the ranching culture of South Texas from 1750 to the present, exploring the sources of these roles in Mexican and Spanish cultures. Check out our on-line catalog for more info.

’Her songs are richly detailed slices of life…(Tish) Hinojosa’s is a strong, poetic, sensual, and conscious voice’
- Spin Magazine

This special release music documentary DVD produced by Galán, Inc. features the story of the critically-acclaimed singer/songwriter Tish Hinojosa, a musical artist who continues to cross borders with her unique music, a reflection of her bicultural Texas roots. Tish Hinojosa: My Heart, My Life is like a road trip with Tish in the driver’s seat, taking you through her music, through her life. This collector’s dvd includes an intimate personal interview with Tish, rare archival footage and photos from Tish’s personal collection as well as performance footage.
“Working with Tish on this project was a wonderful experience. I had worked with Tish before when she narrated the music documentary Accordion Dreams. She is truly one of our great singer/songwriters,” says Hector Galán.
Bonus tracks include complete Tish performances and music videos, including two songs from her newest 2005 CD release, A Heart Wide Open. For more on Tish and the DVD release, go to: www.mundotish.com
Release: TBA

* The story behind the holiday.

* First-person accounts shed light on one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the Americas.

In some ways, it is a companion story to the Alamo. But on May 5th, 1862, it was the Mexican forces who were besieged, and they engineered a stunning victory rather than a noble defeat. In the process, the history of the New World was reshaped.

Galán Inc. produced this hour long documentary, Cinco de Mayo, for the History Channel. Narrated by Henry Cisneros. Produced and Directed by Hector Galán.

Each May 5th, Cinco de Mayo celebrations are held in cities throughout the United States. Few people, however, know the history and cultural significance of this holiday. Cinco de Mayo is a story that began on a sweltering day in the city of Puebla, Mexico. It was in this city and surrounding forts that an ill-equipped Mexican Army along with Zacapoaxtla Indians and regular citizens beat the invading French Army, the most powerful army in the world at the time, in a bloody battle of the morning of May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, 1862.

The Cinco de Mayo story has never been told on American television. The History Channel brings this riveting story to viewers for the first time. Filmed in Mexico and the U.S., this film captures the events leading to the Cinco de Mayo battle and the stunning aftermath. With thousands of new reinforcements, the French eventually defeated Mexico, forcing President Benito Juarez to flee Mexico City. Napoleon the III’s goal of a French Empire in the America’s became a reality. Maximilian was chosen as the new Emperor and his wife Carlotta as Empress. We look at Maximilian’s doomed three year reign of Mexico and Carlota’s spiral into insanity.

Finally, with guerilla warfare armed by post Civil War United States, Benito Juarez forces the French to withdraw, leading to the capture and execution of Maximilian. Today the memory of the French occupation has faded, except for Cinco de Mayo, the day the Mexicans defeated one of the most powerful armies in the world.