PBS VOCES - Children of Giant (2015)

Celebrate the rich diversity of Latino arts and culture in this documentary showcase. Produced by Latino Public Broadcasting, VOCES is PBS' signature Latino arts and culture documentary showcase and the only ongoing national television series devoted to exploring and celebrating the rich diversity of the Latino cultural experience. The VOCES season 3 premiere “Children of Giant” unearths the deeply wrought emotions surrounding the segregation of Anglos and Latinos in the small West Texas town of Marfa, before, during, and after the month-long production of George Stevens' 1956 feature film, “Giant”, which tells the story of three generations of a powerful Texas ranching dynasty. Based on the controversial Edna Ferber novel of the same name, “Giant” did not shy from the strong social issues experienced throughout post-WWII America—it brought to the screen an unflinching look at racism, early feminism, and class divisions—daring themes for movie audiences at the time. Starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean, “Giant” was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and it would be the last film James Dean ever made. Dean died in a car accident on September 30, 1955. Since its premiere in 1956, Giant has been seen in more than twenty countries and is listed as one of the American Film Institute's top 100 films of all time. For Latino historians, poets, and filmmakers, the appreciation for the movie “Giant” runs far deeper. It was one of the first Hollywood features to recognize the racial divide of Mexicans Americans in the Southwestern United States. Fifty years later, the documentary “Children of Giant” looks at the making of “Giant”—in the very town where the residents who participated and witnessed the making of this great American classic were actually living the controversial themes in the movie. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Hector Galan weaves in rare clips and photos from the feature film with the voices of the Mexican American and Anglo townspeople, cast, and crew. The documentary captures this fascinating conjunction of art and real life in the summer of 1955, providing a remarkable opportunity to look into the prevailing attitudes of the time through a giant Hollywood prism.

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