John J. Valadez

John J. Valadez

John is professor of practice in Media and Information and Film Studies at Michigan State University where he teaching documentary filmmaking.  He is a Peabody Award winning filmmaker who has written and directed a dozen nationally broadcast documentary films for PBS and CNN over the past 18 years.   Two of his feature films for PBS – Passin’ It On and The Longoria Affair – have received Emmy nominations. His films have tackled such diverse subjects as the false imprisonment of a leader of the Black Panther Party; Latino gangs in Chicago; segregation in America’s schools; the history of Latino civil rights; the evolution of Chicano music, and the genocide of Native Americans in the Southwest.  They have garnered top prizes at film festivals from San Francisco to Chicago to Mumbai, have been broadcast across the United States, Canada and Europe, and have been featured at major museums and cultural institutions. John grew up in Seattle and has taught photography in India.