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Akira Boch

@akira.boch

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Filmmaker 🎥 | Emmy-Winner (PBS) | Now Screening: @letthecityspeak

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We’re honored to have received the Jury Award for Best Feature Documentary Film from the Fist Up Film Festival!
This is possibly the most meaningful award that our film could have received.

From the festival: “At FistUp, we believe that the only real competition is to see who can inspire the most people. We believe storytelling is not about winning against one another, but about using our stories to move people, build understanding, spark conversation, and create change.”

“Your film stood out to our programming team for its powerful storytelling, artistic vision, and ability to connect with audiences. We are grateful that you shared your work with the Fist Up community and allowed us to be part of its journey.”

Thank you again to @fistupfilmfestival for putting on such an amazing festival and for including us as part of it ✊

@quetzalmusic by @akira.boch

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8 days ago

It was a dream come true to screen at @lapenaculturalcenter in Berkeley as part of @fistupfilmfestival last night. Thank you for including us and letting us screen at such an important cultural venue!

The audience was full of artists, organizers, educators and other like-minded folks, which made for an amazing screening and enlightening dialogue afterwards. It was a truly rewarding experience! taken in La Peña Cultural Center by @akira.boch

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15 days ago

Excited to be the Openlng Night Film at the OC Film Fiesta in Santa Ana!

🎬 Thursday, October 8 · 7:00 PM
📍 Santa Ana Media Arts Center

🎟️ Tickets: link in bio

Big thanks to @ocfilmfiesta for having us 🙌

Please spread the word 🫶

@quetzalmusic taken in Santa Ana Arts Collective by @akira.boch

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15 days ago

✊ LET THE CITY SPEAK is coming to Berkeley!

We’re bringing our film to the Bay as part of the Fist Up Film Festival

🎬 Friday, October 2 · 7:00 PM
📍 La Peña Cultural Center
3105 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94705

🎟️ Tickets: link in bio!

Big thanks to @fistupfilmfestival for having us 🙌

Please spread the word 🫶

@quetzalmusic taken in La Peña Cultural Center by @akira.boch

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24 days ago

LET THE CITY SPEAK 🗓️ Oct. 2nd Friday @letthecityspeak +
Post Screening Conversation with Director AKIRA BOCH @akira.boch at our 17th Annual #FistUpFilmFestival , Berkeley, California @lapenaculturalcenter

#LetTheCitySpeak follows the journey of Quetzal @quetzalmusic , a #Chicano rock band that emerged from #EastLosAngeles vibrant music and art scene in the mid 90’s. Band leaders #Quetzal Flores and Martha Gonzalez found a philosophy in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico that they decided to live by, resulting in a lengthy career of powerful music making and deep grassroots activism.

*All films are FREE / POWERED BY YOUR DONATIONS taken in La Peña Cultural Center by @akira.boch

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a month ago

Let the City Speak en CDMX, pt. II
🔥🫶✨

@sonidos_alicia
@proyectocoyote.mx
@bubblegumjive
@en_asian_food
@alextluna
@musicacontraelpoder
@andresmarioramirezcuevas
🙏🙏🙏 by @akira.boch

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a month ago

Mexico City! Thank you for your tremendous support, open-mindedness, and emotional outpouring. You left us feeling inspired, grateful, and deeply rewarded.

From Foro Alicia @sonidos_alicia to Escuela Comunitaria 5 de Mayo to Tecnológico Nacional de México Iztapalapa III to Teatro del Pueblo, you gave us experiences we’ll never forget.

Thank you to our co-conspirators: Miho @en_asian_food for organizing, hosting, and being our champion; Alejandro @alextluna for using his many contacts to help us screen across the city and for executing a dope mural with @proyectocoyote.mx @bubblegumjive at Foro Alicia; Pupy @pupybond and Lili @liliarten for translating and journeying with us; Skippy for teaching us how to pronounce David Byrne; and all the people who came out to greet us and show us love ✨

We left with so many stories and memories because of all of you. Mil gracias por todo 🙏🙏🙏 taken in Mexico City, Mexico by @akira.boch

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a month ago

When I first interviewed @quetzalmusic73, the leader of the band @quetzalmusic, in 1994, I had no idea that it would begin a journey that would last for over 30 years. I documented him and his band over the course of time because I loved their music and message, and I felt they were an important band emerging from the East Los Angeles music scene. I had no clear intention of making a feature-length documentary about them. It wasn’t until the pandemic in 2020 that we realized we had amassed a huge archive of material and decided it was time to put together a film. The result is @letthecityspeak.

As I analyzed the trajectory of the band, I realized that they were much more than just a band. They have qualities and principles that set them apart from the majority of their musical peers. They are deeply committed to their community and, more broadly, to humanity. They are actively engaged with various grassroots political organizations and use music in a variety of ways to uplift their community.

The evolution of their music, most easily identifiable through the musical genres that they play, illustrates the ways in which their musical and personal identities have changed over time. These changing sounds, the sonic journey of Quetzal, helped guide the construction of their story for this documentary.

@marthartivista, the singer and co-leader of QUETZAL, is also a professor. She published a book called Chican@ Artivistas that lays out the story of the band and the deep influence that the Zapatista uprising had on the band and its career. For me, this book helped highlight some of the band’s most important moments and turning points in their career.

@agnes.varda is a filmmaker whose work deeply inspires me. In particular, The Gleaners and I showed me how unconventional narratives can be constructed from material that might otherwise be discarded. I was inspired by the way she transformed footage that could have been considered “trash” into something creative and impactful. Agnes Varda is a film goddess. May she rest in peace!

–Akira Boch // @akira.boch by @akira.boch

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a month ago

¡¡Ya casi nos vemos!!

Aztlan viaja a Tenochtitlan
Proyección de documental, charla y fandango comunitario

Let The City Speak
( El viaje sonoro de Quetzal)
Documental

Con la participación
— Akira Boch (Director)
— Martha González y Quetzal Flores
( integrantes de la banda del Este de Los Ángeles, California )
— Proyecto Coyote
Alejandro Torres y Cindy Rocha

Y Inauguración del nuevo mural de Cindy Rocha y AMRA

Jueves 03 de septiembre de 2026; 20:04 Hrs
ENTRADA LIBRE

Multiforo Alicia
Eligio Ancona 145
Santa María La Chicana, CDMX

@sonidos_alicia
@multiforoalicia
@akira.boch
@marthartivista
@quetzalmusic73
@proyectocoyote.mx
@amrastyle
@bubblegumjive
@quetzalmusic
@sol6acatzin taken in Foro Alicia Multiforo Alicia by @akira.boch

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2 months ago

メキシコ音楽〜Jarochelo & Xochi ( ハロチェロ&ソチ) LIVE //
ロサンゼルスを拠点とするミュージシャンたちが、メキシコ・ベラクルス発の「ソン・ハロチョ」のサウンドをお届けします。
12:00 Tacos and DJ / 15:00 Live / 15:30 FANDANGO!

「ソン・ハロチョ」とは・・先住民、アフリカ、そしてスペインのルーツから生まれた伝統的なメキシコ音楽。
「ファンダンゴ」とは・・音楽とダンスを楽しむ地域のお祭り
@jarochelo #ソンハロチョ #ファンダンゴ @kamiyama_beer @smoke_a_gogo taken in Kamiyama Beer by @akira.boch

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2 months ago

¡Estamos muy felices de recibir al director Akira Boch @akira.boch en nuestra comunidad!

En esta ocasión proyectaremos Masters of Modern Design, un documental ganador de un premio Emmy que nos acerca a la historia y al trabajo de grandes diseñadores japoneses estadounidenses.

No es una historia lejana.
Las trayectorias de artistas como Ruth Asawa e Isamu Noguchi también tienen vínculos importantes con México.

¿Quieren descubrir una historia que quizá todavía no conocen y explorar, a través de sus obras y diseños, los cruces entre Japón, Estados Unidos y México?

¡Los esperamos!

Cine, Memoria y Comunidad
Ciclo de cine documental de Akira Boch en la Comunidad de Aprendizaje 5 de Mayo A.C.

Dirección: Calle 5 de Mayo 53, San Francisco Culhuacán, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México
Fecha: Viernes 4 de septiembre de 2026
Horario: 18:00–20:00 h
Entrada: Libre

Proyección de Masters of Modern Design (2019, 58 min)
y conversatorio con Akira Boch y Proyecto Coyote @proyectocoyote.mx

Con el apoyo de:
Japanese American National Museum y KCET @jamuseum
Fundación Japón en México @fjmex1 by @akira.boch

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2 months ago

LET THE CITY SPEAK @letthecityspeak
UN DOCUMENTAL DIRIGIDO POR AKIRA BOCH

🇲🇽 ¡POR PRIMERA VEZ EN MÉXICO!

📍 EN EL LEGENDARIO MULTIFORO ALICIA · CDMX
Jueves 3 de Septiembre 2026
8pm

Entrada Libre 🫶

Mucho más que un documental sobre la cultura chicana…
Un valioso retrato de la escena underground de Los Ángeles

Y del movimiento transfronterizo del son jarocho

Después de la proyección, habrá una charla con:
Akira Boch · Director
Martha González y Quetzal Flores · Integrantes de la banda Quetzal
Proyecto Coyote

💃 ¡Y cerraremos la noche con un fandango comunitario!
¡Traigan sus instrumentos, su voz y sus ganas de bailar!

✨ ¡Lxs esperamos !
@akira.boch
@quetzalmusic @marthartivista @quetzalmusic73 @frantastic2000 @proyectocoyote.mx @sol6acatzin @sonidos_alicia taken in Foro Alicia Multiforo Alicia by @akira.boch

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3 months ago