The story

When "La Bamba" hit movie screens in 1987, audiences flocked to see the true story of singer Ritchie Valens, who died as a teen in an airplane crash almost three decades earlier.

But it was memorable for another reason.

The film was the first box office hit directed by a Latino filmmaker and starring mostly Latino actors, said Chon Noriega, a professor of cinema and media studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Read full article »

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