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Farmworker Awareness Week

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Fruits of Labor movie poster

Fruits of Labor

A lyrical, coming-of-age documentary feature about adolescence, nature and how ancestors paved the way. (2022, 77 minute runtime.)

The Land Is Rich movie poster

The Land Is Rich

The Land Is Rich documents the United Farm Workers struggle to organize California farm workers in the early 1960's. It includes their march from Delano to Sacramento in the spring of 1966. The film contrasts the economic strength of California agribusiness with the migrant workers' poverty shown in bread lines, living conditions and the impact of extensive exposure to agricultural chemicals. (1966, 28 minute runtime.)

Dolores movie poster

Dolores / a Carlos Santana production ; in association with 5 Stick Films

Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century - and she continues the fight to this day, at 87. With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother to eleven, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one's life to social change. (2017, 1 hour 37 minute runtime.)

The Fight in the Fields movie poster

The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers' Struggle

Historical documentary telling the story of Cesar Chavez, the charismatic founder of the United Farmworkers Union, and the movement that he inspired - one that touched the hearts of millions of Americans with the grape and lettuce boycotts, a nonviolent movement that confronted conservative politicians like Ronald Reagan and the powerful Teamsters Union. (1996, 2 hour runtime.)

The harvest / La cosecha movie poster

The harvest = La cosecha

Every year there are more than 400,000 American children who are torn away from their friends, schools and homes to pick the food we all eat. Zulema, Perla and Victor labor as migrant farm workers, sacrificing their own childhoods to help their families survive. THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA profiles these three as they journey from the scorching heat of Texas' onion fields to the winter snows of the Michigan apple orchards and back south to the humidity of Florida's tomato fields to follow the harvest. (2018, 1 hour 20 minute runtime.)

Adios Amor movie poster

Adios amor / a film by Laurie Coyle

In Adios Amor, the discovery of lost photographs sparks the search for a hero that history forgot - Maria Moreno, a migrant mother driven to speak out by her twelve children's hunger. Years before Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta launched the United Farm Workers, Maria picked up the only weapon she had - her voice - and became an outspoken leader in an era when women were relegated to the background. The first farmworker woman in America to be hired as a union organizer, Maria's story was silenced and her legacy buried - until now. (2017, 1 hour runtime.) 

Photo of Cesar Chavez in black and white. Chavez wears a white coat with United Farmworkers pin and holds papers in his hands.

Cesar Chavez: "The Power of Non Violence"

Recording of a speech given by Cesar Chavez (1968, 29 minute runtime.)

Student Actions with Farmworkers logo

Stories from the Fields: In the Time of Covid

In the summer of 2020, SAF interns partnered with farmworkers in North Carolina and South Carolina to hear their stories of what they’re facing in the pandemic, how they’re coping and advocating for themselves and others, and how they’re carrying forward hope in their essential work. (2020, 7 minute runtime.)

PBS Learning Media Logo

The Farm Worker Movement

Video from PBS Learning Media about the formation of United Farmworkers (2013, 16 minute runtime.)

From the documentary, a photo of a farmworker harvesting lettuce. He is wearing a black baseball cap and a white shirt.

Colorado Voices: Farmworkers

Produced by Rocky Mountain PBS. Colorado farmworkers share stories about their lives, their health, and their safety. (2021, 28 minute runtime.)