Low and slow
Lowriders turned the family car into art: candy paint, chrome and pride, cruising the boulevard on a Sunday.
San Antonio · West Side · 1977
Amor Chicanoes para siempre
Chicano Love Is Forever. A love story from the barrio, filmed on 16mm by Efraín Gutiérrez, and a culture that never stopped running strong.
La Película
A marriage, a long stretch of highway, a dream of college.
Set in the barrios of San Antonio’s West Side, Amor Chicano es para siempre follows a young married couple. The husband works full time at a gas station while taking classes at Trinity University. Between work, school and marriage, his machismo and self-sacrifice collide with his wife’s wish for a life of her own and a partner who is present.
It was the second of three low-budget features Efraín Gutiérrez produced and directed in the 1970s, made his way: independent, local, and in the Spanglish people actually spoke.
A restored 35mm print from the UCLA Film & Television Archive screened at the 2014 Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, with the director in attendance.
- Title
- Amor Chicano es para siempre
Chicano Love Is Forever - Year
- 1977
- Running time
- 101 minutes
- Format
- 16mm, color
- Language
- Spanglish
- Directed, produced & edited by
- Efraín Gutiérrez
- Screenplay
- Sabino Garza
- Cinematography
- David Pena
- Music
- Henry Balderrama
- Cast
- Efraín Gutiérrez, Tina González, Carolina Villalogin, Henry Balderrama
- Production company
- Chicano Arts Enterprises
El Director
The father of Chicano cinema.
Born in San Antonio in 1946, Efraín Gutiérrez directed, starred in and distributed his own films, working entirely outside the Hollywood studio system. His first feature became a hit in regional theaters. Many who know his work call him the father of Chicano cinema, and UCLA calls him a Chicano film pioneer.
- 1976Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive!, widely regarded as the first Chicano feature film.
- 1977Amor Chicano es para siempre (Chicano Love Is Forever).
- 1979Run, Tecato, Run, the third of his 1970s features.
- 2014Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive! was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
- 2026UCLA held a 50th-anniversary screening of his first feature, followed by a conversation with him.
La Cultura
Still running strong.
The film is a window into 1970s Chicano life. The culture it captured never left; it spread.
Walls that remember
Murals put our history, saints and heroes where everyone could see them, from the West Side to East L.A.
La Onda
From conjunto and Tejano to oldies on a Saturday night, the music carries the story from one generation to the next.
Our stories, our way
Independent filmmakers like Gutiérrez proved a Chicano story could fill a theater. A new generation keeps telling them.
El Feed
Lo nuevo en la cultura.
Screenings, shows, art and news from across Chicano culture. Every post links to its source.
Lowrider Culture in the United States, now in McAllen
The Smithsonian’s bilingual lowrider exhibition is at the International Museum of Art & Science in McAllen, with photographs and stories of lowriding as Mexican American art and craftsmanship since World War II.
Source: International Museum of Art & Science (IMAS)
Barrio Science: Chicanismo and Speculative Experiments in Art
Nine artists celebrate the beauty, creativity and resourcefulness of the barrio, exploring identity, healing, spirituality and labor at MOAH in Lancaster, California.
Source: Lancaster Museum of Art & History
We the People: Chicano Art in the U.S.A.
Sixty artists, curated by Benito Huerta, explore community life, identity and the borderlands at the Cheech in Riverside, California.
Source: ArtRabbit
Calaveras de Azúcar Festival at Market Square
A free Día de los Muertos festival at Historic Market Square with altars, live music and local vendors. A free self-guided altar tour runs daily through November 6.
Source: City of San Antonio
Low Low Car Show & Concert, 24th annual
Hundreds of custom lowriders, a hydraulic hopping contest, a zoot suit contest and live music from Lil Rob in San Antonio. Confirm the venue with the organizers before you go.
Source: HappeningNext event listing
La Vida de los Muertos at Plaza Guadalupe
A free Día de los Muertos theatre and dance celebration on the West Side, with the Guadalupe Dance Company, Mariachi Academy and Dance Academy.
Source: Texas Public Radio community calendar (Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center)
Lowrider Culture in the United States, a Smithsonian show in Tucson
A bilingual Smithsonian exhibition with photography, cars, bikes and gear from local lowrider car clubs, plus a free community car show on January 16, 2027.
Source: Tucson Desert Art Museum
The Tejano Conjunto Festival turns 44
The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center brought conjunto back to Rosedale Park, with a poster honoring Mingo Saldívar and Los Texmaniacs leading a tribute to Flaco Jiménez.
Source: Tejano Nation
UCLA marks 50 years of Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive!
The UCLA Film & Television Archive held a 50th-anniversary screening of the first Chicano feature film, followed by a conversation with Efraín Gutiérrez.
Source: UCLA Film & Television Archive
Carros y Cultura: lowriding legacies in a Texas museum
The Bullock Texas State History Museum celebrated Texas lowriding with seven lowriders, five bicycles, and artifacts from the music and fashion of the culture.
Source: Bullock Texas State History Museum
The first Chicano feature joins the National Film Registry
The Library of Congress added Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive! (1976) to the National Film Registry, preserving it as part of American film history.
Source: Wikipedia
Amor Chicano es para siempre returns to the big screen
A restored 35mm print from the UCLA Film & Television Archive screened at the 2014 Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, with the director in attendance.
Source: Cine Las Americas
Merch
Wear the culture.
Original designs inspired by old-school Chicano style. The store is being set up; these are design previews, not yet for sale.