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As one of the most prolific and impassioned independent filmmakers working today, Hector Galan, a Tejano from San Angelo, Texas, has contributed over forty hours of programming to the national PBS television schedule including eleven episodes for the provocative series, Frontline, two programs for the PBS series The American Experience, and the landmark four-part PBS series, Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement.
His work has garnered numerous awards and recognitions including two Imagen awards, the Cine Golden Eagle Award, the Telly Award, SXSW Best Documentary, the Golden Apple, and the Blue Ribbon Award as well as numerous festival awards. The critically-acclaimed Galan has won these numerous national and international awards and recognitions for exploring such diverse topics as migrant farm workers, (New Harvest, Old Shame, 1990)the dynamics of race relations in the military, (The Color of Your Skin, 1991) college athletics, (Chasing the Basketball Dream, 1984) and issues surrounding foster care, (Who Cares About Children?, 1992) for the Frontline Series.
Galan has cast his lens on the Latino experience in America, bringing the culture and history of the U.S. Latino experience to the screen. He produced two award winning documentaries for the American Experience. Los Mineros (1991), the story of Arizona's copper miners in the early half of this century and their struggles for equality, (SXSW Best Documentary) and The Hunt for Pancho Villa (Imagen Award, Cine Golden Eagle Award).
In 1995, Galan won CineFestival's highest honor,the Special Jury Award for his music documentary, Songs of the Homeland,a film that for the first time told the story of the development of Tejano music - an American Music Genre - and its reflection of Mexican American history and culture. This documentary is now considered a classic and one of the most important documentaries on this music genre.
Galán produced and directed with Henry Cisneros as narrator, The Forgotten Americans, a documentary about life in the colonias,America's poorest neighborhoods on the U.S./Mexico border, a co-production of his company Galán Inc. and Texas State University,funded by the W.K. Kellog Foundation. It had its world premiere screening at the Smithsonian Institute and its premiere broadcast on National PBS in December 2000, presented by KLRU-Austin. The Forgotten Americans, like most of Hector Galan's documentaries, is used by universities, public schools, and organizations throughout the country.
Visiones: Latino Art & Culture is the latest award- winning documentary series to be broadcast on national PBS in October- December 2004, in a career that has spanned over twenty-five years.
Galan Inc. partnered with the National Association of Latino Art & Culture (NALAC) to produce the Visiones Series, in association with the Independent Television Service (ITVS) , co-presented by Latino Public Broadcasting and with major funding from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.
Galan has also received the Cultural Arts Award by the Hispanic Caucus of the American Association of Higher Education, the Armando Marroquin Lifetime Achievement Award by the Tejano Roots Museum, and the AT&T Spirit of Communication Award. In 1996, the state flag was flown over the Capitol in his honor by the Texas House of Representatives in recognition of his work. He received the Alumni Outstanding Award by Texas Tech Alumni Association in 1997 and was named one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in America by Hispanic Magazine. He has had a retrospective of his work screened at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.
Galan's latest work is the documentary feature film, Los Lonely Boys: Cottonfields and Crossroads (2006). He is in post production on a documentary special called "A Migrant's Masterpiece" on the life of ArchBishop Patrick Flores, the first Mexican American Catholic Bishop in the United States.
Galan has also mentored and passed on his knowledge of production throughout his career. He has taught production and editing workshops for various organizations throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe, including a KTOO-TV sponsored program where he taught production and editing skills in Yup'ik Eskimo communities throughout the state of Alaska. He has also taught production workshops in Guam and Hawaii sponsored by Pacific Islanders in Communications.
Galán is a founding board member of the Independent Television Service (ITVS), and has served as a mentor of the CPB Producer's Academy. He is an advisory board member of the Burnt Orange Productions/UT Film Institute in Austin, Texas. He is also a frequent guest lecturer, panelist, and keynote speaker at universities and national conferences throughout the country.
