La Bamba was a risky, low budget film about the tragic life of Chicano pop-star Ritchie Valens. It was the first time that the life of a migrant Mexican family living in the United States was depicted for a global audience by a Chicano storyteller.
Ahead of his time
In the 1970s, Valdez created the first Chicano play to premiere on Broadway, Zoot Suit. A story about a group of young Chicano men falsely convicted of murder in 1940s Los Angeles, that resulted in the Zoot Suit Riots.
