Speaker Profile: Sergio Arau

Celebrated artist and musician, Sergio Arau was born in Mexico City. He received his MFA in Film Studies at the National School of Film (CUEC), Mexico City. A highly recognized visual artist and political cartoonist, Arau won the Coral De Plata award at the Havana Film Festival with his animated short El Muro / The Wall (2001). An accomplished musician as well, Arau formed Botellita De Jerez (1983) a group that fused humor and Mexican traditional music with the contemporary sounds of rock'n'roll. In 1998 he won the MTV Award for Cafe Tacuba's Alarmal (a song Botellita had made famous ten years before). Araus group is considered the precursor of the Rock-en Espanol movement.

Speaker Profile: Yareli Arizmendi

Renowned actress and writer Yareli Arizmendi has resided in California since 1983. Committed to social change she worked with Luis Valdez and Teatro Campesino, toured with Teatro de la Esperanza to Nicaragua and participated with the Border Art Workshop. She developed the Watcha! Stage Cafe, a social satire cabaret, at the Centro Cultural De La Raza in San Diego.