SLO FILM FEST 2021 INTERVIEWS: Aimee Long talks about distilling the real life inspiration into the film that became A SHOT THROUGH THE WALL

Aimee Long’s A SHOT THROUGH THE WALL, which recently screened at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival follows a young Chinese American cop whose life is turned upside down after he accidentally kills an unarmed Black man when his gun fires off through an apartment wall. Immediately, the young man’s battle with his own guilt competes with the unravelling of his entire life as he navigates being the target and focus of the charged and complicated worlds of media, justice and racial politics in modern-day New York. The film was inspired by an actual event in Brooklyn, but goes well beyond that individual case to explore systemic racism from multiple angles.

It would be all to easy to slap a “ripped from the headlines” characterization on the film prior to watching it. However, to Long’s credit, she delivers some discomfort regarding those expectations when it comes to our central character as well as almost every person and entity he would hope to draw support from: parents, girlfriend, partner, the police force, and so on. In a social media world that can “kill” someone nearly as quickly as we can literally die, A SHOT THROUGH THE WALL refuses to pull any punches we would assuredly pull for ourselves up to and following its devastating climax.

In the interview, we talk about the real life inspiration for the project, and how she worked to achieve a nuance with the approach to the issues interweaved within the plot of the film. Aimee also talks about how she went about the research to get the details right – even the mundane police processing and inter office workings – and where she departed from that to take artistic liberties. We also talk about capturing the realness of the Asian American family dynamic, like the authenticity of expressing love with food.