Walter Thompson-Hernández on his new film ‘If I Go, Will They Miss Me’

Episode notes

(Photo: Daniel Speer)

Walter Thompson-Hernández is a writer who’s had a long, celebrated stint as a Los Angeles correspondent for the New York Times. He’s also a filmmaker who has a brand new feature length film called If I Go Will They Miss Me. The film is set in the working class Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. It follows the story of a child who goes by Lil Ant, and the relationship he has with his distant father who he imagines as Odysseus, the hero from the Odyssey. 

If I Go, Will They Miss Me is a beautiful movie that’s heartbreaking at times, breathtaking at others. Its pacing is slow and deliberate, giving you time to live with and consider each scene. Sort of like a poem, or a Toni Morrison novel, or a movie by Charles Burnett. 

Walter joined us to talk about his new film. He got into why the movie has such little plot, and why Greek mythology is such a major theme in the film. He also chatted with us about writing for the New York Times, and what it was like to cover stories about his hometown of Los Angeles that were not really being talked about.