Hector Galán has been producing and directing critically-acclaimed documentary films for almost forty years, including eleven films for the provocative PBS series FRONTLINE, two films for The American Experience- Los Mineros and The Hunt for Pancho Villa- the six -part series Visiones Latino Art and Culture, and the landmark four-hour series, Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. The PBS election special Willie Velasquez Your Vote Is Your Voice, directed by Galán in partnership with Latino Public Broadcasting and narrated by National Medal of Arts recipient playwright/director Luis Valdez was broadcast in October 2016. His latest documentary film, Our Texas, Our Vote, was produced in partnership with Latino Public Broadcasting as part of VOCES. Most recently, Our Texas, Our Vote was nationally broadcast on PBS in October 2024 as part of Latino Public Broadcasting's VOCES series.
Galán has explored a diversity of topics from migrant farm workers, the dynamics of race relations in the military, the rise of 1960s black political power movement, the refugee sanctuary movement of the 1980s, and college athletics. Galán directed Children of Giant, a 90-minute documentary feature which aired on PBS in April 2015 and unearthed deeply wrought emotions surrounding de-facto segregation of Anglos and Mexican Americans in the small West Texas town of Marfa, before, during and after the month-long production of George Stevens’ 1956 Hollywood film,
Galán was the first documentary filmmaker to be inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame by the Austin Film Society. He is a member of the writer's guild of America West, the Texas Institute of Letters and the Society of American Historians.
Honors and Awards
2025 | Inducted into West Texas Hall of Fame, Lubbock, TX
2024 | Inducted into the Society of American Historians, Columbia University
2024 | Corazon Latino Award, Festival Cine Latino Americano, Dallas/Ft.Worth, TX
2023 | Inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters
2017 | Inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame
2015 | The Imagen Award for Children of Giant
2012 | Inducted into the Conjunto Hall of Fame, San Benito, Texas
2010 | Blackwell School Hall of Fame, Marfa, Texas
2008| Proclamation by the city of San Angelo, TX for Outstanding Achievement in film
2005 | Distinguished Filmmaker Award, Cine Cuauhtemoc Pan American Film Festival
2003 | Armando Marroquin Lifetime Achievement Award: Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Museum
2003 | Texas State Bar: Distinguished Service, Legal/Business Aspects of Film/Music
2000 | Premio Estrella Recipient, Dallas CineFiesta Film Festival
2000 | Special Recognition for Outstanding Achievement, City of Dallas
1999 | AT&T Spirit of Communication Award
1998 | Cultural Arts Award: American Association of Higher Education
1998 | Retrospective of Hector Galán’s work at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC
1997 | Texas Tech Mass Communications Alumnus Outstanding
1997 | Hispanic Business Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America
1996 | White House special screening of Hector Galan's Chicano!
1996 | Texas flag flown over State Capitol in Hector Galán’s Honor: House of Rep.