Filmmaker Lisa Martinez adjusts her camera as she records East End residents talk about growing up in the neighborhood on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. Martinez is collecting memories from the community to potential share in her documentary on the area.
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
YE Torres looks over and selects family photos for a documentary about Houston’s East End by filmmaker Lisa Martinez in Houston on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026.
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Areas are set up to go over photos and interviews for filmmaker Lisa Martinez documentary “We are East End” in Houston on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026.
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
YE Torres looks over and selects family photos for a documentary about Houston’s East End by filmmaker Lisa Martinez in Houston on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026.
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Filmmaker Lisa Martinez listens and records Javier Rivas as he talks about growing up in Houston’s East End in Houston on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. Martinez is collecting memories from the community to potential share in her documentary on the area.
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Filmmaker Lisa Martinez listens to a source as he talks about growing up in Houston’s East End in Houston on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. Martinez is collecting memories from the community to potential share in her documentary on the area.
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Houston filmmaker Lisa “Brat” Martinez is collecting photographs and oral histories from East End residents for a documentary she hopes will preserve memories of the rapidly changing neighborhood.
Houston’s East End includes some of the city’s oldest Hispanic neighborhoods, including Magnolia Park and Second Ward, as well as historic homes in Eastwood. But new development, rising housing costs and a declining Hispanic population have intensified concerns about what the area could lose as it changes. Martinez is now collecting residents’ photographs and memories for “We Are East End,” a documentary she says will preserve some of that history.
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Growing up in the neighborhood, Martinez said she remembers when the “paletero would come by or the tamale lady.”
“It’s not the same anymore,” she said. “It’s like, what happened? Driving around, I see certain buildings, establishments and businesses — they’re gone.”
Martinez said now is the right time to make “We Are East End” to “preserve our history here and that it’s everlasting.” She plans to release the documentary in 2027.
Martinez’s work includes credits as an actor, director, writer and musician. She said she travels extensively for work but often champions Houston and looks forward to returning home. She recalls getting into arguments with realtors in the area and telling them to “stop destroying our community.”
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“Just leave us the way we are,” she said. “Let’s preserve it. Let’s make it better. Instead of just wiping out the businesses, let’s see what else we can turn them into. Let’s utilize what we have. Don’t just try to erase us.”
Since the beginning of August, Martinez has met with community members to record interviews and collect photos at several businesses in the area, some with historical significance.
Martinez said community support for the documentary has overwhelmed her.
“The stories that we’ve been told and the photos that we’ve received, it’s kind of bringing back flashback moments,” she said. “It’s like, “Oh, I remember this place,” and “What happened to this? It’s kind of bittersweet. But it’s good to see that a lot of people are in support of this. It feels good.”
The first gathering was held at Zoomies Dog Park off 3123 Canal Street, which opened in 2025. It was built near railroad tracks that was once used by the Union Pacific Railroad. Zoomies founder Ramy Saleh said he preserved an old rail engine at the site.
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“I had to take out the railway,” Saleh said. “But the train was there. So I worked with my neighbor on pulling the train out so that something is visible and I put some lights on it. Now people will come in and they take pictures with the nice steam engine. How many places can you find a classic, old steam engine?”
Though he hasn’t lived in the neighborhood all of his life, Saleh said East End is seeing a lot of change.
“It’s a very different flavor of the city Houston that really deserves at least a good documentation of what it looked like right now,” he said. “Because I’m afraid that, just the way the city has been, the history will be gone very quickly due to the rate of development going on.”
Saleh said he connected with Martinez after noticing her original announcement for the documentary and invited her to learn about the history of the area around his business. Soon after, he told Martinez to host her community event at the dog park.
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“I realized people have a nice memory of (East End),” he said, noting the interviews and pictures shared during the event.
Martinez said she plans to give community members more opportunities to share stories and photos before the documentary’s expected release in 2027.