{"id":573402,"date":"2026-04-09T07:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T07:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/573402\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T07:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T07:17:13","slug":"american-agitators-documentary-acquired-by-abramorama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/573402\/","title":{"rendered":"‘American Agitators’ Documentary Acquired By Abramorama."},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: Abramorama<\/a> has acquired North American theatrical distribution rights to American Agitators<\/a>, a documentary exploring the life and legacy of community organizer Fred Ross Sr., who mentored some of the most impactful activists in American history.<\/p>\n

\n\tAbramorama will open the film, directed by Raymond Telles<\/a>, at The QUAD Cinema In New York City on May 1, followed by a rollout across the U.S. and Canada. The documentary is narrated by playwright and filmmaker Luis Valdez<\/a> (himself the focus of the new documentary American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez) and features commentary from an incredible array of notable Americans guided and influenced by Ross, including Dolores Huerta<\/a>, Nancy Pelosi, Robert F. Kennedy Sr., Satsuki Ina, Dale Minami, Eliseo Medina, Jessica Govea, Herman Gallegos, and Ed Roybal. Fred Ross Jr., who has continued his father\u2019s organizing work, also appears in the film.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAmerican Agitators shows how pioneering organizer Fred Ross Sr. spent decades mobilizing communities to challenge segregation, fight for voting rights, and empower labor movements,\u201d notes a release. \u201cThe film also follows organizers today who continue Ross\u2019s work, tackling issues such as fair wages, workers\u2019 rights, and systemic inequality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Abramorama<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAbramorama<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAmerican Agitators is a powerful reminder that the fight for justice and equity is never finished,\u201d said Karol Martesko-Fenster, CEO\/President of Abramorama. \u201cIt is passed from one generation to the next. Raymond Telles has crafted a deeply resonant film that connects the visionary organizing of Fred Ross Sr. to the urgent movements of today. We are proud to bring this story to North American audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong Telles\u2019s credits is the 2015 documentary Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer\u2019s Journey, co-directed by Yvan Iturriaga, which aired as part of the PBS series American Masters.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Yemeni<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tYemeni labor organizer Sharif (left) and Fred Ross Sr., circa 1975.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCathy Murphy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFred Ross Sr. spent his life proving that ordinary people, when organized, can change the world,\u201d Telles observed in a statement. \u201cMaking this film was a profound reminder that the work he started \u2014 fighting segregation, expanding voting rights, empowering workers \u2014 is still being carried on today, in Atlanta, in Oakland, and in communities across the country. I hope audiences leave the theater ready to be agitators themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch the American Agitators trailer below.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Fred<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFred Ross Jr. (left) in \u2018American Agitators.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAbramorama<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong those Ross Sr. helped train were C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez and Dolores Huerta, who went on to found the United Farm Workers in 1962. (The reputation of Ch\u00e1vez, who died in 1993, recently imploded after the New York Times published an investigation that accused him of sexual abusing girls and sexual assault of women. Huerta just came forward to say Ch\u00e1vez raped her in 1966 and forced her to have sex on other occasions. The revelations do not tarnish Ross\u2019s unparalleled work advocating for the downtrodden, disadvantaged, and overlooked in American society.).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe film also highlights how Ross\u2019s principles of grassroots organizing continue to shape labor movements today,\u201d the release adds. \u201cIn Atlanta, Georgia, \u2018Fight for $15\u2019 organizers advocate for higher wages and unionization across the Southern states. In Oakland, California, in 2023, teachers, families, and community members joined forces to secure a fair contract with the Oakland School District, guided by the organizing and voter engagement strategies pioneered by Fred Ross Sr. and advanced by his son, Fred Ross Jr.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAbramorama and The Fred Ross Project present American Agitators. The film is directed and produced by Raymond Telles (The Fight in the Fields) and produced by Olivia Heffernan David Telles. John Heffernan and Margo Feinberg serve as executive producers. Cinematography is by Vicente Franco and Daniel Telles; Angela Reginato edited the film. Mark Adler composed the score; Kenn Rabin serves as archival producer.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Abramorama has acquired North American theatrical distribution rights to American Agitators, a documentary exploring the life and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[95788,252347,86247,88,252348,206,252349],"class_list":{"0":"post-573402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-abramorama","9":"tag-american-agitators","10":"tag-dolores-huerta","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-luis-valdez","13":"tag-movies","14":"tag-raymond-telles"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}