Synopsis: The Pharr Riot of Feb. 6, 1971, was a product of the times. Pharr is a small town in the Rio Grande Valley at the southern tip of Texas on the U.S. – Mexico border. The Mexicanos / Chicanos although the majority of the population for many years, were the labor to make the white settlers wealthy,Europeans maintained control of the land and the Chicanos . The Valley was segregated, the KKK was alive and well, but the Chicano Civil Rights movement would begin to change that. César Chávez and Dolores Huerta were organizing farmworkers nationally and that would inspire Chicanos everywhere to demand what was rightly theirs, 1st class citizenship.In Pharr, Efraín Fernández and María Magallán organized people to demand better conditions for Chicanos in Pharr. On Feb. 6, 1971, protestors gathered outside the police station to protest police abuse. The police responded with excessive force and like most riots it was the result of racial tensions that came to a boiling point when the Mayor of Pharr, Bowe, decided he would put an end to these protests using excessive force. That response resulted in the death of an innocent bystander, Alfonso Loredo Flores. It also lead to a change in power dynamics in Pharr and the rest of the Valley.

Tati and Amaya Martinez Alvarez

Bio:

Amaya and Tati Martinez Alvarez where born in San Jose California, and grew up in the southern Texas region of the Rio Grande Valley where they see the border culture represented in many ways on a regular basis. They are Juniors who attend Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North Early College High school. Besides Filmmaking their hobbies include Swimming,Theatre and Flocorico Dancing.With both interested in going to university for film, telling stories that matter to both them is very important.

Statement:

As young filmmakers, our mission for this film was to bring to light a story that is important to our community, Proper representation of Mexican Americans in film whether in front or behind the camera is important as our stories and voices deserve to be heard. After many long hours of writing,editing,lising and shooting, we are proud to present our film, “One Gunshot” Stories that show La Lucha (our struggle and fight for equal rights) are essential to who we are as two young queer latin@s living in and working in the Rio Grande valley, as the minority in filmmaking we believe that stories like the pharr riots need proper representation on the big screen. By bringing awareness to the unfair treatment of Mexican Americans in the ’70s, Learning how the Mexican people retaliated and demanded action on the governments behalf. We as film watchers can grow and learn to never repeat the errors of the past, The goal with this project is to tell a story that has been scarcely told before and in an interesting/new way.