Description
This collection of papers, film and video
relates mainly to the motion picture director Isaac Artenstein's
production of Break of Dawn, his biographical film about the life and
times of Pedro J. Gonzalez. Researchers who would like to indicate
errors of fact or omissions in this finding aid can contact the research
center at www.chicano.ucla.edu
Background
Isaac Artenstein studied painting and photography at UCLA and film
and video production at Cal Arts. He wrote and directed the feature film
Break of Dawn (1990), a biography of Pedro J. Gonzalez, a pioneer of Los
Angeles' Spanish-language radio in the 1930s, which premiered at
Sundance and was later shown on Telemundo and the BBC. He produced the
romantic comedy Love Always (1996) which aired on the Lifetime Channel,
the thriller Bloody Proof (2000) for Univision, and the social satire A
Day Without A Mexican (2004). Artenstein has also directed and/or
produced a number of award-winning documentaries, including Diana
Kennedy: Cuisines of Mexico (1981) and Ballad of an Unsung Hero (1983),
as well as In the Name of the People (1985), narrated by Martin Sheen.
He has taught film production and directing at the University of
Southern California and the University of California at San Diego, and
was a founding member of the Border Arts Workshop in San Diego.
Currently, Artenstein is developing a feature film based on his 1991
play Under a Brilliant Sky, about the photographers Tina Modotti and
Edward Weston. His documentary Tijuana Jews had its premiere at the San
Diego Jewish Film Festival in February 2005.