GOOD TALK WITH RICHARD RAY PEREZ

Richard Ray Perez is the Executive Director of the International Documentary Association (IDA) and the director of CESAR’S LAST FAST, the Sundance feature documentary about the private sacrifice and spiritual conviction behind Cesar Chavez’s struggle for the humane treatment of America’s farm workers. A panorama of Mexican American and American history, civil rights, non-violent protest tactics, environmentalism, labor struggles, Catholic and Indigenous religious practices, this never before seen footage gives students unprecedented insight into Chavez's life and the historic farm worker movement. Perez has been a featured speaker, panelist and moderator at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Skoll World Forum, Sundance Film Festival, and the National Latino Studies Association. His presentations address the role of documentary film in creating social change and are informed by his 14-year career as a documentary film director and producer. ​ Perez’s film work includes executive producing the multi-platform documentary series In Their Boots, a 29-episode project about the impact the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had on communities across America, which was nominated for the 2009 International Documentary Association Award for best single subject documentary series. He produced and directed the seminal political documentary Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election, which the Los Angeles Times called “a riveting story about the undermining of democracy in America.” It has screened at 50 international film festivals, won nine festival awards and premiered on the Sundance Channel in 2004. He also co-executive produced The Freedom Files, Season II, a 9-episode series which aired on PBS about the impact civil liberties violations have on the daily lives of real people. Perez holds a BA in Visual & Environmental Studies from Harvard University.