'Two Distant Strangers' Oscar champ calls out police brutality

‘Two Distant Strangers’ Oscar winner highlights toll of police violence in America

By Greg BraxtonSenior Writer, Culture and Representation

April 25, 2021 7:48 PM PT

“Two Distant Strangers,” about a young Black man caught in a deadly time loop with a white cop, won the Oscar for best live action short film Sunday, bringing more attention to the hot-button issue of police killings of unarmed Black men, which has dominated national headlines this week.

The victory, by co-directors Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, came just days after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted for murder and manslaughter in the killing last year of George Floyd, which sparked protests around the world.

Free, who wrote the short film, was both celebratory and solemn as he and Roe accepted the award.

“Today the police will kill three people, and tomorrow the police will kill three people, and the day after that, the police will kill three people,” Free said. “Because on average in America, the police will kill three people a day, which amounts to about 1,000 people a year. Those people disproportionately happen to be Black people.”

He added, “James Baldwin once said the most despicable thing a people can be is indifferent to other people’s pain. I ask that you not be indifferent. Please, don’t be indifferent to our pain.”

In the film, graphic artist Chester (rapper Joey Badass) is trying to get home to his dog after spending the night with Perri (Zaria), a beautiful woman he just met. But every time he steps outside, he encounters Officer Merk (Andrew Howard), who harasses him. Their confrontations always end with Chester being killed and he wakes up back in bed with Perri, repeating the cycle.

The film debuted on Netflix a few days before the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by a white police officer during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minn.

“Two Distant Strangers” has attracted controversy, with some viewers comparing it to other recent series such as Amazon’s “Them,” and HBO’s “Watchmen” and “Lovecraft County” which they say presents the death of Black people as entertainment, or “Black trauma porn.”

During an appearance in the virtual press room, Free said, “When we started this journey to make this film, I knew it would be a film that would be difficult for people to watch, difficult for people politically engage with... For it to have done what it’s done, for us to be here holding these [Oscar statuettes] for a movie as potent and as serious as our film is, from the Academy, I think it’s unbelievable. I think it’s amazing to think that we can be standing here today holding Oscars for a film about police brutality.”

He added, “I had an idea while we were out protesting and marching that was spurred by how I was feeling about what I was seeing, how I was feeling about internalizing the pain of seeing so many black people be killed at the hands of police — and thinking about the emotional roller coaster you go on every time you hear a new name or see a new story or see a new video. It put me in the mind-set this feels like the worst version of living ‘Groundhog Day.’

“And when I had that thought to myself, it was something that I couldn’t put it away. It would not go away. Because it was the pandemic and we weren’t working, we weren’t doing anything, I felt like I wanted to sit down and do something with the idea.”

Gun violence also took center stage when “If Anything Happens I Love You” won for animated short feature. The filmmakers dedicated their Oscar to victims of America’s ongoing gun violence epidemic.

The film uses animated shadows to illustrate the emotions of an estranged couple forever altered by the tragic loss of their daughter.

“We dedicate this film to all those who’ve lost loved ones to gun violence,” said Will McCormack, who co-wrote and co-directed the 12-minute short with Michael Govier. “We deserve better than to live in a country where more than 100 people die by gun violence every single day. ... We deserve better, we must do better, we will do better.”

Staff writer Yvonne Villarreal contributed to this report.