Precious Knowledge Trailer from Dos Vatos on Vimeo.

About the Film:

At Tucson High School, charismatic teachers and a rigorous curriculum help Latino students complete high school and realize their dream to go to college. The recently released film, Precious Knowledge interweaves the transformative stories of seniors in Tucson High School’s Mexican American Studies Program, which inspires 85 percent of its graduates to enroll in college. Against this story of transition, hope and pride, are the efforts of Arizona state lawmakers working to ban Ethnic Studies, including the Mexican American Studies Program. The documentary follows students as they mobilize against the legislation to save their program. Filmed in the classroom and incorporating testimonies from students at Tucson High School’s Mexican American Studies Department, the film illustrates the power of critical pedagogy to empower Latino and other youth of color in the struggle against entrenched racial and class inequalities in contemporary public education. ICA’s 2012 location in Phoenix makes this a highly topical screening but beyond, the film depicts the reality, and indeed, poignancy of policy battles that cut to the heart of the 2012 conference theme, Communication and Community – what counts as “community,” the politics of marginalization and exclusion, and the lived struggles of those forging community through media production, policy reform, and pedagogical practice.

Dir. Ari Palos and Eren McGinnis (2011, 75 min, Dos Vatos Productions, USA). Named Audience Favorite and Special Jurty Award Winner at the San Diego Latino Film Festival, 2011 and Honorable Mention in the Best Documentary Category at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, 2011.