By: Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director
The recently premiered Honors Northeast/Walter Prescott Webb Society film, Chicano Thermidor: Art and Identity in San Antonio, 1970-1995 is now in the public domain: Click here to view film
The premiere, last Friday evening at the Whatley Center for the Performing Arts at NTCC, showcased the proficient and alacritous work of directors Emma Mendoza and Hailey Randall, the reliable cinematography and production of Johnathan Ventura, and again, the dazzling, original music of regional composer, Kenny Goodson, who scored his seventh film. The Whatley Tech Director, Steven Nelms, oversaw the final setup and showing of the feature-length movie. Thanks to the donors of Honors Northeast, a tasty array of refreshments was free, and the evening ended with a Q&A session where the audience was able, now in the Whatley Foyer, to address questions to the cast and crew.
Honors Director, Dr. Andrew Yox noted that though “the audience response was mixed, the honors students and Webb Society cast of the 2025 were far-above average in overcoming technical issues, acting, and in essentially rounding out the story. Some criticism involved the film’s focus on a Chicano group, the way scenes were concatenated, and the tendency at times for the music to eclipse the dialogue. One viewer, however, liked the way the depiction of the two Mexican American associations helped the viewer to think through some of the issues that were affecting Mexican Americans in Texas during the late twentieth century. Several attenders liked the way the film score heightened the drama, and helped identify the two dueling associations.”
The acting of Tristan Dierflinger, José Fuentes, Jasmine Landaverde, Alison Majors, Ian Mares, and Madeline Simmons, in particular, won particular acclaim. Araceli Landaverde was particularly effective in a scene that involved a confrontation between her character, Maria Berriozábel, and that of Alison Majors, who played the part of Rosie Castro.
Previous Honors/Webb Society films can also be viewed from the above site including the story of the Morris-County-born father of prohibition--Morris Sheppard; the great Texas populist from Hughes Springs--Wright Patman; Harriet Potter Ames—perhaps the only woman in Northeast Texas with a monument (by Lake Caddo); Sam Houston, and the fall of the Texas Cherokee (For a generation in the early 19th century, Cherokee lived around present-day Cherokee County, Texas); the story of the great cosmetics CEO, Mary Kay; the story of future opera singer Barbara Conrad (from Camp County) and the University of Texas, 1956-57; Adina De Zavala and the transfiguration of the Alamo; the story of Bo Pilgrim; the Carroll Shelby Story; Texas Suffragette: The Minnie Fisher Cunningham story; the traveling preachers of early Texas, and “crude conquest,” big oil and Texas politics. The scripts, records of awards won, and the stories about how each film was made are also available on this site.
Honors Northeast is now accepting applications for the 2026-27 school year. 1 March is the deadline for obtaining an optimal scholarship. The program confers institutional and private scholarships, as well as many other amenities. Talented public high school students, high school seniors, homeschoolers in transition, parents, and students with less than 30 hours at NTCC are welcome to contact Dr. Andrew P. Yox, Honors Director, at ayox@ntcc.edu, and/or apply through the honors website: <www.ntcc.edu/honors>.
