Searching for Padre Martinez

Searching for Padre Martínez (currently in development) is a feature-length documentary that will follow my filmmaking journey to discover the life and times of Antonio José Martínez, an activist priest dedicated to the enlightenment ideals of representative democracy and public education in 19th century New Mexico. 

I grew up in New Mexico but never heard anything about Martínez until well into adult life. I first learned about him when I produced a four-hour series for PBS and Mexican television on the war between Mexico and the United States (The U.S.-Mexican War: 1846-1848).  During Martínez’s lifetime, his native New Mexico ceased to belong to Spain, became part of Mexico, and then was conquered by the United States.  Martínez never crossed the border, but the border crossed him—twice.  

My family has lived in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado for multiple generations, since long before the Mexican republic existed. Perhaps that’s why Martínez’s story fascinates me.  I believe the battles waged by Martínez in the 19th century were a precursor to issues we confront every day in modern America. He faced an uneasy balancing act between religion and politics. He knew that education was vital for sustaining democracy among an uneducated citizenry, where critical thinking, religious tolerance, and human rights had to be cultivated. And he experienced the profound challenge of testing whether different groups—cultural, ethnic, religious, political—could live peacefully together amid the backdrop of bloody insurrection. 



Directed, Produced & Written by Paul Espinosa
A Production of Espinosa Productions

“A fascinating account of the clashing interests and competing value systems that shaped the destiny of the Southwest.”

Dr. Gabriel Melendez

University of New Mexico

“Martinez reveals the contradictions of a single individual trying to defend the old and welcome the new, to embrace both tradition and modernity. He represents the dilemmas of border peoples in all times and places.”

Dr. David Weber
Southern Methodist University

“Martinez is perhaps the most fascinating individual in the history of the Borderlands.”

Dr. Thomas J. Steele

University of New Mexico

“He was a vocal supporter of Pueblo and Mexicano land rights which depended on the communal nature of the Mexican property system in order to survive in this arid environment.”

Dr. Maria E. Montoya

New York University