WALTER THOMPSON-HERNÁNDEZ

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending a screening and Q&A for IF I GO WILL THEY MISS ME, the Sundance award-winning short film from Walter Thompson-Hernández. The short follows a father-son duo, Big Ant and Lil Ant, who navigate a dreamlike version of the Imperial Courts projects in Watts. Lil Ant spends his days watching planes pass over his home and yearning to fly. While the short heavily leans on magical realism, the story is inspired by a real event, in which Delta airlines spilled thousands of gallons of jet fuel across neighborhoods and schools in southeast LA in 2020. In the Q&A, Thompson-Hernández explained that many kids like himself grew up with a fascination of flying because they lived under this flight path, but the 2020 event recast that fascination for him—and allowed him to reflect on the environmental racism that his community faces. Walter Thompson-Hernández draws inspiration from his community not only as a filmmaker, but also in his podcasts, articles, and books. His 2020 podcast CALIFORNIA LOVE walks listeners through his neighborhood and love for Los Angeles. The same year, he published the book THE COMPTON COWBOYS, which highlights the history and stories of the Compton Cowboys from the riders themselves, and currently he has a film adaptation in the works from Prentice Penny. A talented multi-hyphenate, Walter Thompson-Hernández approaches his work through a very personal lens and an honest love for southeast LA. And the overcrowded screening for IF I GO WILL THEY MISS ME in his local Huntington Park theater seems to be a strong indication that southeast LA loves him back. You can catch the next screening at the GuadaLAjara Film Festival in Downtown LA on September 29th!

—Ellen Amare, Office Coordinator