The life of rock & roll legend Ritchie Valens bursts across the screen in the highly celebrated music-filled biopic LA BAMBA, starring Lou Diamond Phillips (YOUNG GUNS, CHE) as the teenage sensation whose rise to fame was tragically cut short at the age of 17. Phillips gives an electrifying performance as Valens, who has to contend with racial prejudice, a jealous brother (a stunningly intense Esai Morales, NYPD Blue, Caprica) and an overbearing mother, before his unique style of Latino-influenced rock & roll rockets him to fame, but sets him on the path for an unavoidable date with destiny. Featuring music from Grammy Award winning rock band Los Lobos, and also starring Elizabeth Peña (JACOB’S LADDER, DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS), director Luis Valdez’s LA BAMBA is an irresistibly toe-tapping depiction of the early days of American rock music, and the indelible influence one young man had upon it.

PARTNERED EVENT

This screening is presented as a partnership with Frida Friday ATX. Frida Friday ATX is Austin’s only monthly Womyn of Color centered marketplace. Frida Friday promotes alternative economies by centering and promoting self-identified WoC creatives. Frida Friday will host a two-day mercado and pachanga at AFS Cinema, December 21st and 22nd.