In the old fashioned realm of going to the movies, checking the local newspaper for a take on film reviews was an integral step in the decision-making process for what to see. Denver film critic Howie Movshovitz recalled his proudest moment as a film critic wrote a glowing review of the Canadian film, “Strangers in Good Company,” scheduled for only a 4-day run: his review boosted the film’s success and allowed it the opportunity to play for 4 weeks.

Certainly, in the era of Rotten Tomatoes and the era of streaming (not to mention the dearth of print media), film criticism as a means to bring audiences to event cinema is rare. Therefore, when the opportunity to bring in a local audience arises, one must gather all hands on deck to ensure a suitable size audience. I have been a film enthusiast long before I wrote reviews. I’ve been on the receiving end of this recently: glowing coverage of the incomparable War and Peace from the New York Times led me and Ryan Rojas to seek out a 1-day exclusive screening at Santa Monica’s Aero Theater in March, a sold-out show that produced an encore at the Egyptian in April. In other words, when the event is right, critics can still be the ones to guide viewers to journey into independent cinema, especially for film events with limited engagement.

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All this prelude builds to a must-attend, one-night-only, cinematic event happening in LA next Tuesday, July 23. Documentary filmmaker Travis Wilkerson performs a live rendition of his cinematic memoir Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun? for the first (and perhaps only) time in Los Angeles. 

The film, in either the live rendition or traditional format, has never been shown in theaters in the greater LA area. I know this because I had the privilege of seeing the film at Sundance Film Festival in January 2017 at its world premiere, also featuring a live performance from Travis Wilkerson, and have waited for it closely ever since. I wrote an enthusiastic review in conjunction with the other excellent films I got to see that day. The experience was so mesmerizing that afterward, I doggedly followed the film’s website and the distributor Grasshopper Films’ website, waiting for a chance to see the film again.

Travis Wilkerson is the writer, director, editor, and narrator of this complex, gut-wrenching exposé of his own family’s complex legacy of white power in the rural South. Wilkerson is the direct descendant of a man who was proud of the fact that he killed a black man and got away with it. With fragments of archival, Wilkerson comes to terms with the horrific racism among his own kin, and how to grapple with this as a progressive individual in the 21st century. The story unfolds like a detective novel in real-time, as Wilkerson retraces the steps of the crime which up until now had remained buried. We are taken with him on the journey through the Deep South and, in minimalist imagery, are transported to a part of the country that feels altogether foreign from anything we know in California or the West.

The live component is vital to this experience. This is Wilkerson’s story: he is an active participant in the journey, and to see him deliver it live, at times quite literally editing and sound mixing on the fly while reading raw narration of his own personal odyssey, is incomparable. In most cases, these “live” cinematic experiences are only available at premier film festivals like Sundance. To get to see this in LA is a gift of an opportunity. Adding to the stakes: the ticket itself says this may be the last time Wilkerson ever delivers the live performance. Even at the Sundance world premiere, during the Q&A, Wilkerson candidly expressed the painful nature of the subject meant he had few intentions of going around doing the show. Hence, the need for a taped version, which I have yet to see having been treated to the live showing. With this in mind, it gives extra importance to this evening next Tuesday: antithetical to most cinema, this is something that cannot be brought home or streamed on VOD after the fact. This is a one-and-done, cannot-miss moment for independent cinema enthusiasts. 

As avid readers of the Los Angeles independent film scene, I invite you to join me next Tuesday for an unforgettable event.

Travis Wilkerson’s live performance of Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun? will play next Tuesday, July 23rd, at 8:00 pm at the Velaslavasay Panorama, 1122 W 24th St, Los Angeles, CA 90007

Tickets are $12, more information available here: https://wilkerson.bpt.me/