Once you get past the exasperating 90-minute narration and the eruption of images that jump off the screen and hit you with the power of a Chicano punk riff, you’ll appreciate Speeder Kills (2003) as an instant San Antonio film classic. Director Jim Mendiola, on his way back to California after shooting another film, was held back after witnessing the local rock scene. “Most of the band members were brown, the audience was mainly brown, the artists whose work decorated the club’s walls were mostly brown … but the music was not salsa or tejano or even rock en español,” he wrote in a release. “It was just an alternative local music scene that just happened to be Latino, and at the same time not Latino at all.” What he saw inspired him to film the crazy story of a local band (Speeder) hijacking a Fiesta float in order to film a music video. Starring poet and performer Amalia Ortiz, the movie is equal parts narrative film, personal essay and doc, and features the music of Jackie on Acid, Los #3 Dinners, Big Drag and other bands from yesteryear. This is a movie to be watched with a bunch of old-timers from the local music scene, and serves as a strong reminder that, let’s face it, Fiesta sucks and brown people celebrating it sucks even more.
