Two Spirits: The Fred Martinez Story

 In 2001, 16-year-old Fred Martinez was brutally murdered near his hometown of Cortez, Colorado. He was poor, Navajo, and transgendered but Fred was blessed to have grown up with the cultural belief there are four genders, not only male and female but mixed identities like his. 

'Two Spirits', a documentary by Lydia Nibley and produced by Denver-based nonprofit Just Media, not only tells the story of the life and death of this youngest-ever victim of a hate crime but also delineates the larger context within which his murder occurred. Interviewees include Fred’s mother, family supporters, those who brought Fred’s killer to justice, and civil rights advocates and activists who found terrible but redemptive meaning in his death.

The film was recently screened at the Starz Film Center and will be available on DVD soon.

Starz Denver Film Festival: Two Spirits

'Two Spirits', a film documenting the brutal murder of Cortez, Colo. teen Fred Martinez by filmmaker Lydia Nibley will premiere at the Starz Denver Film Festival on November 21, 2009. The film raises questions about how a fundamental shift in cultural attitudes could save lives, families, and Native traditions.

Sixteen-year-old Fred Martinez was two-spirit, someone who embodies the essence of both male and female, a special gift according to his ancient Navajo culture. This tradition is grounded in the idea that to maintain harmony, there must be balance between the feminine and the masculine within the individual, in families, in the culture, and in the natural world. 'Two Spirits' interweaves the tragic story of a mother’s loss of her son with an examination of a time when many Native American cultures held places of honor for people of integrated genders. The film offers much-needed insight and fresh perspective to the conversation taking place around sexuality and gender in American culture today.

Two Spirits: The murder of Fred Martinez

The Murder of two-spirited Fred Martinez is the focus of a new documentary that was recently accepted in the International LGBT Film Festival to take place June 18-28 in San Francisco. Titled “Two Spirits: Sexuality, Gender, and the Murder of Fred Martinez,” the film interweaves the story of the short life and brutal death of a Navajo teenager with a penetrating examination of the two‐spirit tradition among American Indians.

The film reconstructs what happened on a night in June 2001 when one boy bludgeoned another with rocks, then bragged to friends that he had “bug-smashed a fag.”

Fred Martinez was one of the youngest hate‐crime victims in modern history when he was brutally murdered at the age of 16 in Cortez, Colorado.

Martinez was a male-bodied person with a spiritual essence that is feminine, a special gift according to his ancient Navajo culture. The film explores the life and death of a boy who was also a girl – two spirits – and the fluidity and spiritual nature of gender and sexuality. The film makes the case that people need to return to traditional American Indian values.

“We must raise $19,000 quickly in order to finish the film on time,” says Lydia Nibley, executive producer and director of the documentary. She explained the money is needed to “cover the cost of the audio mix, color correction, mastering and other technical details needed to finish the film and get it out widely on the film festival circuit.”

If you would like to make a financial donation, please contact Lydia@SYQproductions.net.