ASCO: Without Permission dir. Travis Gutiérrez Senger (2025)

ASCO: Without Permission is a genre-defying film that profiles the extraordinary, Los Angeles based, Chicano art group of the 70's-80's, ASCO, who merged activism and art as they challenged representation in the art world, Hollywood and the news media. Unrecognized in their time, they are now being considered amongst the most important artists of the 20th century. Utilizing a wholly original approach to filmmaking where nonfiction and fiction are interconnected through collaborative film works made with the next generation of Latinx artists, "Without Permission" reimagines what is possible today in cinema and art while celebrating an iconoclastic group that was far ahead of its time.

ASCO: Without Permission

90min | English with Spanish subtitles | USA | 2025

Friday September 19, 2025

Doors at 7, Film at 8

Virtual Q&A to follow!

Free and all ages! (Children 12 and under should be accompanied by a guardian.)

🍿As always, we'll have free popcorn and flavored seltzer waters. Bring a refillable water bottle, we have a cooler to keep you hydrated! Outside snacks welcome, sharing encouraged 🙂

Travis Gutiérrez Senger is a Mexican American director, writer and producer. His recent project, ASCO: WITHOUT PERMISSION, a genre-defying film about the Chicano, avant-garde art group ASCO, premiered at SXSW '25. The film is executive produced by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna. The project has received support from the Ford Foundation, Film Independent, NALIP, and the Dolby Creator Lab. His prior projects, DESERT CATHEDRAL, WHITE LINES AND THE FEVER, along with a number of shorts, have won top prizes at festivals such as Tribeca, SXSW, and SIFF. He founded ANM Films, a premium film and TV company, with a focus on bold, progressive Latinx stories.

Internationally acclaimed Patssi Valdez is best known for her vibrant paintings, installations and early performance work with the avant-garde art group ASCO, of which she is a founding member. Born and raised in East Los Angeles, Valdez received her BFA from Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles and was named outstanding alumni in the 1980s. In 2005, she was named the “Latina of Excellence in the Cultural Arts” by the U.S. Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Valdez's art has been featured at the Alma Awards and the Latin Grammys. She is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including from the J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Brody Arts Fellowship in Visual Arts. Her art work is included in major collections, including the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona; The San Jose Museum of Art, California; and the El Paso Museum of Art, Texas.

Harry Gamboa Jr. is a photographer, writer, painter, and performer whose work highlights contemporary Chicano culture in his native Los Angeles. He co-founded Asco (Spanish for nausea), the East L.A. conceptual-performance art group active from 1972-1987. Gamboa's work has been widely exhibited nationally and internationally, including: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (2023); AltaMed Art Collection, Rome, Italy (2022); J.P. Getty Museum (2021), Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2020); Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C (2019), amongst countless other museums. He is the recipient of the Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship at CSU Los Angeles (2004), the Durfee Artist Award (2001), and the Flintridge Foundation Visual Artist Award (2000), and has been awarded by the J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts (1990), California Arts Council (1996), and National Endowment for the Arts (1987 and 1980). Gamboa is on the faculty of the Program in Photography and Media at CalArts.

San Cha is a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter and guitarist whose larger-than-life stage persona and moving lyrics are rooted in authentic storytelling and her Mexican heritage. Her name, derived from the Spanish word sancha, which translates to ‘mistress’, is a mischievous reference to the title of ‘San’, given to male saints in the Catholic tradition. As the daughter of Mexican immigrants, San Cha’s unique sound draws inspiration from the Catholic music, cumbia and Latin rhythms she grew up with, as well as the punk culture she grew to appreciate. San Cha's breakthrough came with her 2019 album La Luz De La Esperanza, and her music has since been featured in the Starz TV series Vida and Kacey Musgraves' film Star-Crossed: The Film. With a new conceptual audiovisual album and the 2025 debut of her opera, Inebria Me, which premiered at Keith Haring Theatre in New York City and is currently on tour around the US, San Cha continues to push boundaries and challenge expectations.

This program is made possible with the support of The Mellon Foundation.

Host or Publisher ENTRE Film Center & Regional Archive