FILMS TO WATCH

• By Mabel Pais

SHAKTI

Director: Nani Sahra Walker; 2026; Nepal/USA; Drama; 1h 35m

Directed by Nani Sahra Walker, “Shakti” follows a single mother searching for answers after her young daughter begins behaving in increasingly strange and unsettling ways, leading her on a journey through Nepal’s intersecting worlds of medicine, spirituality, and social injustice.

“One of the most rewarding parts of this journey has been seeing how audiences connect with the film,” Walker said. “While “Shakti” is deeply rooted in Nepal, the conversations it sparks about family, power, healing, and justice have resonated across cultures. Making the film available for free on streaming platforms allows those conversations to reach even more people.”

Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Nepal, “Shakti” explores themes of caste discrimination, gender violence, corruption, and resilience. The film seeks to spark dialogue around Nepal’s statute of limitations on sexual violence, among the most restrictive globally, while creating space for conversations that are often pushed to the margins.

Following its digital debut on Amazon Prime Video in the United States and United Kingdom, the award-winning Nepal-set drama “SHAKTI” expanded its global reach through a free streaming release on Tubi, Plex, and Fawesome beginning June 26, with additional platforms to follow.

The worldwide release marks the next chapter in the film’s growing rollout. Last month, Variety announced the film’s Amazon Prime Video debut, bringing the acclaimed feature to audiences in the U.S. and U.K.

Since premiering on the international festival circuit, “Shakti” has earned multiple honors, including the Best Narrative Premiere Award and Richard D. Propes Narrative Social Impact Award at the Heartland International Film Festival. The film has also screened at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, CAAMFest, and the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Goa. Ahead of its streaming release, “Shakti” will screen as the Closing Night Film of the Nepal America International Film Festival.

Release date: Distributed by Buffalo 8, “Shakti” will be available to stream free beginning June 26 on Tubi, Plex, and Fawesome, with additional streaming platforms to be announced.

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CODE FOR THE PEOPLE

Director: Bao Nguyen; 2026; USA; Doc Short; 22m

The open web is the most vital invisible utility we have, and it’s under siege.

We’ve traded a free internet for a collection of walled gardens. A handful of digital landlords use algorithms to dictate our reality, and closed AI is poised to reshape how we connect. We’re at a breaking point. We can let gatekeepers keep consolidating power, or we can reclaim the open source spirit that built the web in the first place.

The future of the internet is being decided right now, and it needs our help.

From director Bao Nguyen (“BTS: The Return,” “Be Water,” “The Greatest Night in Pop”), “Code for the People” is a documentary short about the past, present, and contested future of the open web. This film is an exploration of what the internet is actually for, who gets to own it, and what it takes to keep it free.

Release date: The film premieres globally on July 9. Learn more at codeforthepeople.com.

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AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ

Director/Writer: David Alvarado; 2026; USA; English/Spanish; Doc; 1h 32m

“AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ” chronicles how writer/playwright/director Luis Valdez illuminated the Mexican American experience on stage and screen and transformed the American cultural landscape. Born in Delano, California in 1940, Valdez wrote his first plays in grammar school, had his first play produced when he was a student at San Jose State University, and created El Teatro Campesino alongside the United Farm Workers, helping to inspire a broader Chicano theater movement.

An auteur emerges from America’s underclass: from migrant farmworker to revolutionary artist, Luis Valdez changed American culture. In the 1960s, his El Teatro Campesino performed on flatbed trucks and helped mobilize workers to win the first farmworker union contract. His “Zoot Suit” was the first Chicano play on Broadway. Despite critical rejection that killed the show, he persevered, creating “La Bamba” — a breakout blockbuster that authentically depicted Mexican-American life to the world. Now in its 60th year, El Teatro continues to be a beacon for Latino/a creators. This is the story of an artist who gave voice to the overlooked and opened pathways for generations.

Following a sold-out run of his landmark play “ZOOT SUIT” in Los Angeles (1978), Valdez became the first Chicano director to have a play presented on Broadway when it made its New York premiere in 1979. The hit film “La Bamba” (1987), written and directed by Valdez, was also a cultural phenomenon and the first Hollywood blockbuster to focus on a Hispanic family’s experience. The film adaptations of “ZOOT SUIT” and “LA BAMBA” were both selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

“I was 21 when I heard Luis Valdez speak, and it rearranged what I thought was possible for my life,” said director Alvarado. “Twenty years later, putting his story on the big screen is the best way I know to pay that forward. This film is about who gets to be American, and a movie theater is one of the last rooms in this country where strangers still sit together in a room and experience something new and something wonderful. Everybody in that room belongs.”

“Luis Valdez built El Teatro Campesino on the back of a flatbed truck, performing for farmworkers in the towns where this film will now play,”Alvarado said. “Booking theaters in Salinas, Fresno, and Bakersfield mattered to us as much as booking the Film Forum in New York City. Luis has spent 60 years proving that Chicanos aren’t on the margins of the American story. We are the American story.”

Release date: Originally released in January 2026 by PBS and at the Sundance Film Festival, the film will be re-released in theaters on July 17, 2026.

Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Education, Spirituality, Health and Wellness, Business, and Cuisine.