''Two distant strangers'' short film is yet another reminder of BLM

A 28-minute short film portraying police brutality in the United States has been shortlisted for an Oscars.

The film titled ‘’Two distant strangers’’ starring rapper Joey Bada$$ takes a look at the ways in which black people have been killed by police officers.

The New York based rapper plays Carter James, a Black man attempting to return home to his dog after a romantic date. In a series of cyclical clips, once Carter steps outside his date's apartment door he is met with a series of unfortunate events, including an arrest that leads to his death.

It’s yet another reminder of the essence of the black lives matter movement.

"When I first read the script, I immediately had like, this crossroads type of moment with myself because I was a little bit torn. While I loved the script, I was in such a good place emotionally, that I felt like playing this character would have taken me out of that space. I've been in like situations in real life with, you know, police officers running down on me and, illegally searching me and harassing me and stuff like that. So, it was almost like shaking up old trauma and bringing that to the forefront and having to play through that. But at the same time, I understood just the magnitude of playing such a role", the rapper cum actor said.

The film is written and directed by Travon Free. He says the idea came to him while in quarantine and watching daily news of civil unrest.

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Travon Free, writer/director:

"The repetition is to say, not only is this what we go through as a people, it's on an emotional level. All of us living Black people are going through this same cycle every time we hear a news story, every time we see a new video. And so he's really playing two characters. He's us as the 14 million Black people in America, but he's also the individual people who we know suffered these traumas. And so the repetition is to say when you're watching it and you're feeling that - that's what we feel every day. What you get for 28 minutes, we live with every day", Free said

Voting for the 93rd Academy Awards nominations concludes on March 10, 2021. Nominees will be announced on Monday, March 15.