Our friend and comrade, David Martinez, needs support.

Our friend and comrade —Artist and Filmmaker —David Martinez needs your financial support.

Texan by birth, Mexican by blood and San Franciscan by the grace of god, David Martinez has recently undergone serious surgery for a life-threatening illness that went unnoticed for far too long. After ten days in the ICU he is finally on the mend and starting the long process of recovery. David won’t be able to work for a while, will need day-to-day assistance as well as further medical care. We are raising funds to help him with these expenses and housing costs during his recovery.

Those who know David personally have witnessed his sardonic nature - “Anarchists - they’re too conservative!”, his love of country music - his yearly guide to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival and deep curatorial knowledge of cinema - the always free Incite/Insight film series he ran from the building he lives in downtown SF, and his own films which ranged from a complex portrait of the archives of Hoh-Kun Yuen, to a hilarious send up of Werner Herzog, with many stops between.

For those who haven’t had the opportunity to be in the presence of his unique charm as a friend or a student, here is our attempt at an introduction:

David made his home in San Francisco in the 90s, took a break back to Texas during the foreshadowing years of the dotcom period-battling yuppies on his way out, and then came back to SF to dig-in for good. As a documentary filmmaker he travelled the world pursuing projects examining social struggles and the ravages of US imperialism and capitalism in places such as East Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Mexico and many cities around the US. He filed reports as a journalist for numerous outlets from the places he visited.

Although he rubbed shoulders with the “journos,” David has always been a comrade with conviction and the readiness to take action. He has been arrested and harassed countless times by the police in the midst of street battles, disrupted events of the political class and produced leftist agitprop through the decades.

At the height of the Iraqi resistance against the US occupation in 2004, David put down his camera to help evacuate the wounded from the city of Fallujah in an ambulance under US sniper fire. As he wrote at the time:

“We are also shown an ambulance that the Iraqis claim was shot up by the Americans. It has bullet holes in the front windows, sides, and top. They say the Americans do not respect international law, and openly attack ambulances.

Our Iraqi host soon wades through the crowd to find us. “I need volunteers!”, he shouts, his preferred method of communication, “Now!”

“To do what, exactly?”, someone enquires.

“Retrieve wounded persons!”

My hand goes up, and the next thing I know, myself, the Brit, and the Iraqi woman are standing in the back of a truck…

For 30 years he has dedicated himself to the vital task of documenting abuses of power both in the US and at points abroad where the empire’s dirty work is done. He has done it with elegance, passion and great humor and he has made many of our lives much richer and much better informed for it. He’s always been one of those people you can trust. And now, he needs volunteers to support his recovery. Please step up.

His Friends in the Bay Area and beyond.