Last Friday, Nothing to See Here: Watts hosted a sold-out benefit screening and concert celebrating more than 300 community filmmakers at The Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
In the 90-minute documentary, filmed over three years, 300 residents — including rival gang members, police officers, students, and victims of violence — used their phones to document their lives, conversations, and hopes for change.
The result: an unfiltered look at reconciliation in real time, and a tangible reduction in homicides across the neighborhood.
Attendees of the premiere filled the theater to honor the people of Watts, whose courage and creativity helped spark one of the most profound movements of unity in the city’s history.
Through film, music, and community storytelling, they’ve done what few believed possible: transform trauma into peace and violence into vision.
The night opened with a moving performance by filmmaker and activist Lawanda Hawkins, whose piece Silent March featured over 200 pairs of shoes symbolizing children lost to violence.
Following the screening, the audience was treated to performances from Grammy Award–winning vocalist Kim Burrell, Grammy-nominated Kenyon Dixon, and composer Brandon “Stix” Salaam-Bailey, joined by the Roc Kids Choir.
The star-studded crowd included Stevie Wonder, Lalah Hathaway, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell, and representatives from more than 40 nonprofit organizations serving the Watts community.
Ultimately, Nothing to See Here: Watts asks a question that cuts deep: What happens when a community takes control of its own story?
In Watts, the answer is transformation.
With every frame and every performance, the night proved that when people most affected by injustice are given the tools to create, they can also build a path to peace.
Nothing to See Here: Watts is in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, expanding nationwide on October 17.
