ATLANTA, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Marking the fourth in an ongoing series of film festivals exploring Hollywood's portrayal of different racial groups, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will turn its spotlight on the cinematic depiction of Latinos. Throughout the month of May, TCM's RACE AND HOLLYWOOD: LATINO IMAGES IN FILM will showcase 40 films, past and present, that show the progression of how Latino characters and culture are depicted in cinema. Joining TCM's Robert Osborne in hosting the festival will be UCLA professor Chon Noriega, author of Shot in America: Television, the State, and the Rise of Chicano Cinema.

"As has been shown in our past RACE AND HOLLYWOOD editions, the way in which Hollywood depicts different cultural groups can have a tremendous impact on how those groups are viewed in society as a whole," said Charles Tabesh, senior vice president of programming for TCM. "We're proud that TCM has the library and resources to delve deeply into issues like racial and cultural identity in a way that no other network on television can. We are also thrilled to welcome the participation of noted scholar Chon Noriega as co-host with Robert Osborne for this project."

TCM's RACE AND HOLLYWOOD: LATINO IMAGES IN FILM festival will take place Tuesday and Thursday nights in May, beginning at 8 p.m. (ET). Each night's collection of films will be centered on a particular theme, such as a look at depictions from the silent era, views of border towns and small ethnic towns, musicals, stories featuring interracial relationships, explorations of social problems and Latino representations in past and current westerns. Also included in the festival line-up will be several contemporary films making their first appearance on TCM, including The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), La Bamba (1987), The Mambo Kings (1992), Stand and Deliver (1988), The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1983) and Lone Star (1996). In addition, each evening will feature a specially chosen film for late-night movie fans.

Chon A. Noriega, who will co-host the festival with TCM's Robert Osborne, is professor of cinema and media studies at UCLA and director of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. He is author of Shot in America: Television, the State, and the Rise of Chicano Cinema and editor of nine books, including Visible Nations: Latin American Cinema and Video and I, Carmelita Tropicana: Performing Between Cultures. Since 1996, he has been editor of A Journal of Chicano Studies, the flagship journal for the field since its founding in 1970. Noriega has curated numerous media and visual arts projects, including Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement, which is currently traveling to venues in the U.S. and Mexico. He has also helped recover and preserve independent films, including the first three Chicano-directed feature films, which have been restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Noriega has received the Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship in the History of Art and the Rockefeller Foundation Film/Video/Multimedia Fellowship. He is co-founder of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (est. 1999) and served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Independent Television Service. He is currently completing a book on Puerto Rican multimedia artist Raphael Montanez Ortiz.

Past editions of TCM's RACE AND HOLLYWOOD festival series include explorations of how Hollywood has portrayed African-Americans in 2006 and Asians in 2008. In addition, TCM looked at Hollywood's depiction of gay images in film in 2007.

The following is a complete schedule of TCM's RACE AND HOLLYWOOD: LATINO IMAGES IN FILM. Film titles with an asterisk mark movies that are making their TCM debut.

    Tuesday, May 5
    Spanish Dons and Senoritas in the Silent Era
    8 p.m.     Ramona (1910)*
    8:30 p.m.  The Mark of Zorro (1920)
    10 p.m.    Old San Francisco (1927)
    The Old West
    11:45 p.m. Big Stakes (1922)*
    1 a.m.     In Old Arizona (1929)*
    Overnight Feature
    4:45 a.m.  The Gay Desperado (1936)*

    Thursday, May 7
    Border Films
    8 p.m.     Bordertown (1935)
    9:45 p.m.  Border Incident (1949)
    Boxing Films
    11:30 p.m. Right Cross (1950)
    1:15 a.m.  Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
    Overnight Feature
    3 a.m.     Revenue Agent (1950)

    Tuesday, May 12
    Small Ethnic Towns
    8 p.m.     Tortilla Flat (1942)
    10 p.m.    ... And Now Miguel (1953)*
    11:15 p.m. The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
    1:30 a.m.  Salt of the Earth (1954)
    Overnight Feature
    3:15 a.m.  The Garment Jungle (1957)

    Thursday, May 14
    Miscegenation
    8 p.m.     Mexican Spitfire (1940)
    9:30 p.m.  My Man and I (1952)
    11:30 p.m. Giant (1956)
    Overnight Feature
    4 a.m.     The Texican (1966)*

    Tuesday, May 19
    Social Problems
    8 p.m.     The Lawless (1950)*
    9:30 p.m.  Trial (1955)
    11:30 p.m. Cry Tough (1959)*
    1 a.m.     The Young Savages (1961)
    Overnight Feature
    3 a.m.     Blackboard Jungle (1955)

    Thursday, May 21
    Musicals
    8 p.m.     Greenwich Village (1944)*
    9:30 p.m.  West Side Story (1961)
    12:15 a.m. La Bamba (1987)*
    2:15 a.m.  The Mambo Kings (1992)*
    Overnight Feature
    4:15 a.m.  Cuba (1979)

    Tuesday, May 26
    Youth and Gangs
    8 p.m.     Stand and Deliver (1988)*
    10 p.m.    Walk Proud (1979)*
    Midnight   Boulevard Nights (1979)*
    2 a.m.     Badge 373 (1973)*
    Overnight Feature
    4 a.m.     Strangers in the City (1962)*

    Thursday, May 28
    Families
    8 p.m.     Popi (1969)
    10 p.m.    My Family (1995)*
    Western Revisions
    12:15 a.m. The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1983)*
    2:15 a.m.  Lone Star (1996)*
    Overnight Feature
    4:45 a.m.  Terror in a Texas Town (1958)


    Schedule subject to change.

Turner Classic Movies, currently seen in more than 80 million homes, presents great films uncut and commercial-free, from the largest film library in the world. TCM, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2009, features the insights of veteran primetime host Robert Osborne and weekend host Ben Mankiewicz, plus interviews with a wide range of special guests. As the foremost authority in classic films, TCM offers critically acclaimed original documentaries and specials, along with regular programming events that include The Essentials, 31 Days of Oscar and Summer Under the Stars. TCM also produces a wide range of media about classic film, including books and DVDs, along with hosting a wealth of materials at its Web site, www.tcm.com. TCM is part of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company.

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