ALL THEY WILL CALL YOU is a feature length documentary that follows the fifteen-year journey of author Tim Z. Hernandez as he investigates the buried history of the 1948 plane crash in Los Gatos Canyon, California. Using a docu-detective, road movie approach to the story, Hernandez seeks to uncover the names of the Mexican passengers killed in the crash and buried in a mass grave in California’s central valley. While the casualties were reported simply as “deportees” by American newspapers, the legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie composed a popular protest song that memorialized the victims and raised provocative questions about whose lives we recognize and remember. Guthrie’s song was recorded by folk music icons such as Bob Dylan, Peter Seeger, Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, and countless others.
Seven decades later, Tim Z. Hernandez, the son of migrant farmworkers, sets out on a journey into the past, through the heart of California’s agricultural belt, and across central Mexico. The story is part historical investigation, part personal calling, narrated by Hernandez, and documented over a span of fifteen years. With his investigative approach, he tracks down the relatives of the victims, uncovers the names and identities of the 28 Mexicans who were left faceless and nameless in their death, and recovers their dignity stripped many years ago. The documentary is based on Hernandez’s two highly acclaimed, award-winning books, “All They Will Call You” (2017) and “They Call You Back” (2024).
Letter to Supporters
Since 2010, I have documented nearly every step of this journey in video, audio, and photographs: my research, travels, and intimate conversations with families and experts. What began as a personal search has grown into a sweeping yet deeply human story that spans two nations, decades of U.S. immigration policy, American folk music, and the lives—my own included—forever shaped by this tragedy. Together with my producers, and an award-winning post-production team, we are now bringing this story to the screen, and it could not come at a more urgent time.
As immigration enforcement, I.C.E. raids, and deportations intensify—-and violence and fear dominate the national conversation--we urgently need stories that restore our shared humanity. This film does exactly that. It names the unnamed, honors lives long erased, and insists on dignity in a moment when too many are treated as disposable.
And we need YOUR help to get there!
The creative team is assembled and ready. Over 100 hours of footage are already with our seasoned editor, and what we need now is the funding to complete post-production and bring the film to audiences everywhere. Our goal is to complete the film by late Summer 2026, in time for submission to major film festivals.
If you are interested in donating to our film, please contact me at (tzhernandez@yahoo.com). Your support at this stage would be transformative-—not only for the film, but for the conversations and healing it can help foster in communities everywhere. Thank you for being a crucial part of this journey, and I hope you’ll continue with me!
Tim Z. Hernandez 