‘Children of Giant’ a lesson in the American Southwest

*I’m very excited about this film. NewsTaco is proud to call film maker Hector Gálan a friend. It’s an important perspective to see the history of the Mexican-American community through the lens of such an iconic film. VL

*By Elaine Ayala, San Antonio Express-News

The world premiere of Hector Galán’s new documentary, “Children of Giant,” Saturday night assembled a big, diverse crowd for CineFestival, the annual film festival — now in its 37th year — put on by the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.

They were drawn by a fascinating combination of factors: a film about a Hollywood classic, “Giant,” starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean; U.S. history told from a non-Anglo perspective; and the story of a then-obscure West Texas town that provided the breathtaking backdrop for a story some didn’t want depicted in popular culture.

“Giant” was no ordinary Western.

Perhaps for the first time, movie-goers heard that the acquisition of the American Southwest wasn’t what they’d learned in school; that racial prejudice wasn’t only black and white, but Anglo and Mexican-American, too; and that the contributions of the latter to U.S. life had not been acknowledged.

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