Director Gregory Nava says he will finish the Dolores Huerta biopic after the labor leader’s death, which came Wednesday at her home in Bakersfield, California. She was 96. Her family announced the death, and the Texas Tribune reported the cause was cancer. Nava, whose credits include “El Norte,” “Selena” and “Frida,” told NBC Los Angeles he was with Huerta and her family in her final hours.
He called the experience powerful and moving and said he intends to complete the film to “keep her light in the world.” Nava recalled that when he asked what her life story should focus on, Huerta said it should not center on her. He said she responded in typical fashion, deflecting attention to the movement she helped build.
Variety first reported the project in April 2024. Nava directs and writes with producer Barbara Martinez, and the film is billed as the first dramatization of Huerta’s life. The two filmmakers conducted more than 70 hours of interviews with her, and Huerta said she shared details she had never disclosed. She chose them from many filmmakers seeking her life rights, citing a decades-long relationship with her family. Huerta had said the moment was right to tell her story, given the country’s challenges. No studio, cast or production start has been announced in the reports I found.
Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, later the United Farm Workers, with César Chávez in 1962. She coined the rallying cry “Sí, se puede” and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2012. The Critics Choice Association honored her with its Icon Award in October 2025, where organizers noted the planned feature.
The film also arrives at a delicate moment for the movement’s history. Earlier this year, following a New York Times investigation, Huerta publicly accused Chávez of sexual assault, saying she had kept the secret to protect the farmworker cause. The United Farm Workers and the César Chávez Foundation then stepped back from events honoring him. It is not yet clear how Nava’s script addresses those allegations. Diego Luna’s 2014 film “Cesar Chavez” featured Rosario Dawson as Huerta.
