Notes From The Wall

We're playing in Reno and San Jose, CA!

2009-10-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

2009-10-09T11:39:00.001-07:00

Whew! What a tour!

2009-10-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

We had A GREAT South Texas College Tour!
Thank you to everyone who came out!
Starting Sept. 20th-October 1st Director Ricardo Martinez and his trusty Production Manager/Tour Manager Lucia Martinez toured South Texas playing the new film The Wall.

They played 7 colleges in 10 days and plus an additional showing for the public at Bijou Cinemas, presented by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers- San Antonio (NALIP-SA).

In total they traveled close to 1000 miles and played 8 different venues, holding lively Q & A sessions after each one. The crowd was at times emotional but always respectful. They video-taped each Q &A and will present the results soon. Keep checking out the facebook page!

The Wall Documentary on Facebook

The Wall comes back to San Antonio!

2009-09-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

Due to popular demand we are bringing The Wall back to San Antonio!
The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP-SA) is presenting the award-winning film The Wall Friday Sept. 25th at 8 PM at Bijou Cinema at Crossroads Mall. This is a beautiful theater which caters to the San Antonio independent film and serves alcohol and food! We're honored to show there.
The film will be followed by a lively Q & A Session with director Ricardo Martinez.
for more info you may check out our facebook page.

The Wall Texas College Tour!

2009-09-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

Announcing our upcoming the Wall Texas College Tour!

Official Dates
9/21 Texas A & M Laredo, Texas
9/22 7 PM UT Brownsville, Texas
9/23 Texas A & M Corpus Christi
9/24 7 PM Texas A & M Kingsville, Texas Open to the Public!
9/25 8 PM Bijou Cinema at Crossroads Mall
9/28 UT San Antonio
9/29 Trinity University
9/30 St. Mary's University

Check with your University to see if you can attend.
Special thanks to all of the Universities who were interested and graciously hosted us on this trip.
You can also find updates on our facebook page.

The Wall Coming to Holland, Michigan!

2009-08-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

The Wall is playing two separate showings in Holland, Michigan!
Showing September 12th and 13th at the Knickerbocker Theatre.
The film plays Saturday at 6:30 PM and Sunday at 1:30 PM. Provided courtesy of Tulipanes Latino Art and Film Festival, we've brought you a special presentation of the film FOR FREE.
Tulipanes has arranged to host the filmmakers for a Q & A session afterward! We hope to engage audiences in this beautiful town two hours from Chicago and Detroit, right outside of Grand Rapids.

Check out our first bit of teaser press from the Holland Sentinel:

One of the films being shown on Saturday and Sunday is “The Wall,” by filmmaker Ricardo Martinez of New York City.
The documentary was filmed over three years and follows the implementation of the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Martinez wants to show the documentary to people who have never been to the border. He hopes the film will start a dialogue about building a U.S.-Mexico border fence.

Holland Sentinel

Newspapers Review The Wall in Texas!

2009-08-17T10:52:00.001-07:00

Some missing news articles I posted on the facebook page but not here. A few people have told me that they can read blogs but not the facebook from work. For all of you with firewalls, I'm updating this blog a little more regularly.

From Connexion (the San Antonio Express-News insert)
"The Wall Reveals Unexpected Humanity"

"Director Ricardo A. Martinez takes a probing look at the state of this 2,000 foot beast..."A Great Review from Deborah Dearth (Critical Mass Film House)

"The Wall accurately portrays life on the border..."
Carlos Guerra, San Antonio Express Review!

Hear an interesting interview with Director Ricardo Martinez on
Texas Public Radio
Interview comes at the end with David M Davies.

Follow us on Facebook!

2009-08-10T14:34:00.001-07:00

The Wall Documentary on Facebook

Another great follow up on The Wall Screening

2009-08-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

Great review, didn't know former UT-Pan American President was there! http://riograndeguardian.com/rggnews_story.asp?story_no=18

State Rep. Aaron Pena Reviews The Wall!

2009-08-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

Just caught this review by State Rep. Aaron Pena! He was a great guy, had no idea he wrote this until now.

"I recommend it to all taxpayers"

The director of the movie, "The Wall", Ricardo A. Martinez, was surprised by the full house reception by so many from the Valley to his "small budget" documentary about the border wall. I greeted him and complimented him on his work. I was pleasantly surprised by the humble nature of Mr. Martinez and was struck at how grateful he was that a public official attended his premiere.
I told him that the honor was mine and that he was doing a great service to all our constituents on the border (and for that matter all Americans) for exposing the misguided and wasteful structure that these difficult times and shortsighted politicians have saddled us with.

I make these statements as a "law and order" moderate/conservative who has spoken out against the rise of drugs and drug violence along the border - long before it was fashionable to do so. After any reasonable cost-benefit analysis of this issue makes it is readily apparent that the costs far outweigh the benefits when it comes to the wall's construction and maintenance. Lastly the wall fails to address the fundamental issues causing our country's immigration problem.

Read the full review here:
http://www.acapitolblog.com/2009/07/wall-powerful-indictment.html

Two News Interviews!

2009-07-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

On two News stations! One in McAllen and Univision in San Antonio.

Click here to watch

Click here to Watch

Got on the news!

2009-07-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

Jessie DeGollado of KSAT (ABC Affiliate in San Antonio) just previewed the film and did a piece about our San Antonio show!

The Monitor also has a great piece and in-depth interview.

RioGrandeGuardian Reviews The Wall

2009-07-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Our first, full review of the film

Three generations of family coming out of a manhole. A son worried for his father crossing the treacherous desert from Mexico into the United States. The mounting danger for federal agents on the border.

The issue comes to light in "The Wall" a new documentary about the construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border filmed by New York native Ricardo Martinez.

Joey Gomez RIOGRANDEGUARDIAN.COM

Read the full article here.

News and Reviews of The Wall

2009-07-13T06:11:00.000-07:00

Saturday the RioGrandeGuardian.com published a story about the recent developments with the border fence.
They mention The Wall, our July 17th screening at Cine El Rey and Guadalupe Theatre, and put a link to a short we just made.

Also McAllenTimes.com just put up a news piece about the film coming to McAllen and mention a few quotes from the director, Ricardo Martinez.

“My main motivation for doing this film was to start a dialog for the people to think what is our policy for immigration, what is the effect of this wall, what is the effect of building a giant structure like this” says Martinez, during a phone interview from New York city.

Jorge Luis Sierra, McAllentimes.com

Official Flyer and San Antonio Current Review

2009-07-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

The SA Current just blogged about the upcoming screening in San Antonio!

Border mayors, angry homeowners, vigilantes, migrating humanity: shake ‘em up in a bag and tumble ‘em into the editing machine that is documentary filmmaker Ricardo Martinez. What you get is The Wall, everything we wanted to tell you about fear and loathing on La Frontera but were afraid to ask, we’re sure.

Greg Harman, SACurrent.com

Read the whole thing at:
http://www.sacurrent.com/blog/queblog.asp?perm=69810

And here is our official flyer, feel free to take and post!

The Wall Comes to South Texas

2009-06-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

July 17th at McAllen's El Cine De Rey, 8 PM

July 18th at San Antonio's Guadalupe Theatre, 8 PM

Tickets are $5. Q&A and reception follow. Screening Details and information can be found at thewalldocumentary.com or cineelrey.com.

For any questions regarding this press release, to review the film for your publication, or to contact the filmmaker email media@thewalldocumentary.com. To watch clips of the film visit thewalldocumentary.com, youtube.com/thewalldoc, vimeo.com/thewall, or friend our Facebook page!

Ricardo Goes on DIGITALPRODUCTIONBUZZ.COM

2009-06-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight Ricardo Martinez appeared on Digitalproductionbuzz.com to discuss The Wall.

Some Photos from our May30th Screening

2009-06-04T06:21:00.000-07:00

Here's some photos from our screening on the 30th.

Saturday May 30th Screening of The Wall

2009-05-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

*******Officially announcing our first screening!*************
This Saturday in Los Angeles at the American Film Institute we screened the film for the first time to fans, friends, and a few media reps. We were totally impressed by the sneak peak showing's attendance! Over a 100 fans showed up on short notice to watch the film and attend a reception and Q&A with the filmmaker.
Check the facebook for photos!

For more information or to obtain a screening copy contact Viva Zapata Productions at immigationfilm@yahoo.com or check www.thewalldocumentary.com for updates. Find The Wall on Facebook, YOUTUBE.COM/thewalldoc or VIMEO.COM/thewall.
Thank you

The Wall Trailer

2007-12-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

SHOOTING IN THE DESERT

2007-05-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

LAST SHOOT WE HAD, CHRIS WAS STARTING TO FALL ASLEEP. I WAS STARTING TO FALL AWAY TOO. BUT I KEPT FIGHTING IT BECAUSE THE MINUTEMEN GUY IN FRONT WAS JUST HANGING OUT AND I THOUGHT IF THIS OLD GUY COULD DO IT SO COULD I. THAT'S WHEN WE STARTED HEARING AUTOMATIC FIRE GO OFF IN FRONT OF US ABOUT 100 YARDS OR SO. CHRIS DIDN'T EVEN MOVE. THE FIRST GUY UP WAS THE MINUTEMAN AND HE WAS WALKING CALMLY TO HIS CAR. I FINALLY GOT CHRIS TO GET HIS ASS UP (i WAS TETHERED TO HIM SINCE HE WAS WORKING SOUND). TURNED OUT TO BE JUST SOME HUNTER SOOTING OFF HIS GUN. ARIZONA APPARENTLY HAS REALLY LAX GUN LAWS.