‘Dolores’ documentary screens Oct. 6-12 at SIFF in Seattle

SEATTLE — History tells us that Cesar Chavez transformed the U.S. labor movement by leading the first farm workers union. But missing from this story is his equally influential co-founder, Dolores Huerta, who tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the 20th century.

Dolores is a new documentary from the award-winning filmmaker of La Mission and Follow Me Home, Peter Bratt. It will open in Seattle of Friday, Oct. 6 and run for one week at the SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., and screenings will include special guests and filmmaker Q&As. For tickets and showtimes, visit www.siff.net.

Like so many powerful female advocates, Dolores Huerta and her sweeping reforms were and still are largely overlooked. Even as she empowered a generation of immigrants to stand up for their rights, her own relentless work ethic was constantly under attack. False accusations from foes and friends alike, of child neglect and immoral behavior from a woman who married three times and raised 11 children, pushed her out of the very union she helped create. Still, she remains as steadfast in her fight as ever at the age of 87.

Bratt’s provocative and energizing documentary challenges this incomplete, one-sided history and reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one’s life to the fight for justice. Interweaving archival footage with interviews from Dolores and her contemporaries, the film sets the record straight on one of the most effective and undervalued civil and labor rights leaders in modern U.S. history.

“Exuberantly inspiring,” raves David Talbot of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Makes you want to march and dance.”