Southern Poverty Law Center premieres new documentary ‘Viva la Causa’.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) will premiere its newest documentary film, “Viva la Causa,” in Los Angeles on Sunday as part of an effort to teach students across the country about a seminal event in the march for human rights. Hundreds of schoolchildren and farmworkers, many of whom appear in the film’s reenactments, will attend.

“Viva la Causa” documents the victorious California grape strike and boycott led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in the 1960s. The 40-minute documentary will be distributed with teaching resources to an estimated 50,000 educators, free of charge, over the next two years. Millions of
students will see the film.

“The story told by ‘Viva la Causa’ couldn’t be timelier,” said SPLC Founder Morris Dees. “Latinos and immigrant workers of color are on the front lines of our country’s most burning human rights struggle. We’re seeing a rising tide of xenophobia and immigrant-bashing that’s being fueled by opportunistic politicians and demagogues in the media.”

The teaching kit, which includes the film, will be available free of charge to educators in late October. Teachers can order it at http://tolerance.org/teach/resources/viva_lacausa.jsp>.

“Viva la Causa” is the sixth film produced by the SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance program. Four of the program’s past documentaries have been nominated for Academy Awards, and two films – “A Time for Justice” and “Mighty Times: The Children’s March”- have won the Oscar in the short documentary category.