Moore got a red-carpet premiere Tuesday when American Martyr: The Stanley Rother Story debuted at Regal Warren Moore, putting an Oklahoma-born priest’s extraordinary life and legacy on the big screen. The July 28 event brought church leaders, filmmakers, actors and people connected to Rother’s years of missionary work in Guatemala.
The world premiere featured Archbishop Paul S. Coakley speaking with reporters, while Felipe Coche walked the carpet alongside him. Maria Scaperlanda attended with her husband, Michael, and media also spoke with actor Ryan Francis and Cristiana Marinelli, according to The Oklahoman’s red-carpet gallery.
From Moore’s Red Carpet To A National Theater Release
The feature-length documentary is narrated by Academy Award nominee Martin Sheen and is scheduled for a special two-night theatrical release Aug. 26-27. Fathom Entertainment says the film chronicles Rother’s life, ministry and 1981 martyrdom.
The project also has a distinctly Oklahoma production story. It was created through a partnership involving the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma-based Lampstand Story Company, according to Oklahoma Catholic Radio, which describes the film as a look at Rother’s service to the Indigenous Tz’utujil people of Santiago Atitlán.
Why Stanley Rother’s Story Still Resonates In Oklahoma
Rother was born on an Oklahoma farm near Okarche and became a priest before volunteering for the Oklahoma Catholic mission in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. He learned the local language, helped translate the New Testament and continued serving his parishioners despite escalating violence, according to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.
He was killed in his rectory on July 28, 1981, making the Moore premiere fall on the 45th anniversary of his death. Rother was beatified in 2017 and is recognized by the Catholic Church as the first U.S.-born priest to be declared a martyr, giving the documentary’s hometown debut an especially pointed sense of place.
For Moore audiences, the screening was more than a film launch: It was a local introduction to a story that stretches from an Oklahoma farm to a Guatemalan mission and now to theaters nationwide. The red carpet lasted one night, but American Martyr is only beginning its wider run.
