PALM DESERT– Screening of Adios Amor: The Search for Maria Moreno

PALM DESERT— Screening of California Humanities-supported film Adios Amor: The Search for Maria Moreno at the Festival in the Fields, Palm Desert, CA  Friday October 26, 2018 5:30 – 7:00 pm UC Riverside Palm Desert Auditorium 75080 Frank Sinatra Drive Palm Desert, CA 92211 4:00 – 5:30 pm Panel Presentation on Latino Health in the Coachella Valley: Present Challenges and Solutions 5:30 – 6:00 pm Reception 6:00 – 7:00 pm Screening Hosted by UC Riverside School of Medicine and Cinema Culturas Free Registration: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07efl5pu3zd9341315&llr=tv4lakcab Before Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, there was Maria Moreno. In ADIOS AMOR, the discovery of forgotten photographs taken more than fifty years ago sparks the search for an unsung hero: Maria Moreno, a migrant mother who sacrificed everything but her twelve kids in the passionate pursuit of justice for farmworkers. Haunted by a personal tragedy and blessed with a gift for oratory, Maria rolled up her sleeves, collected signatures, and electrified audiences. Elected by her fellow Mexican American, Filipino, Black and Okie farmworkers to represent them, Maria became the first farm worker woman in America to be hired as a union organizer. Her charisma drew crowds, but her independence got her into trouble with her labor bosses, who fired her for her outspokenness. Were it not for the maverick photographers and journalists who captured her story, Maria’s trailblazing legacy might have been lost. The search for Maria guides this documentary, where ghosts fade in and out and magic underpins a rawboned reality. In the end, whose stories get told may hinge on memories, coincidence and—in Maria’s case—an insistence on pursuing a path that touches the lives of others. From California’s great Central Valley, to the Arizona desert and US-Mexico border, the journey yields buried treasure…and stories told with passion and humor. A deeply human drama also comes to life, of Mexican American farmworkers living in dire poverty at a time of unprecedented abundance, whose faith, family values, and working class culture sustained them. ADIOS AMOR-THE SEARCH FOR MARIA MORENO pays tribute to the people whose hard work feeds the nation, and celebrates the courageous woman who told their story to the world.