‘Two Distant Strangers’ Wins Oscar For Best Live-Action Short Film
This past Sunday at the 93rd annual Oscars, Netflix’s Two Distant Strangers, won the Oscar for the best live-action short film for its mind-bending, empathetic, and emotional depiction.
#Oscars: #TwoDistantStrangers wins best live-action short film https://t.co/Ma5q4C2wJU pic.twitter.com/zPf3vEAS6J
— Variety (@Variety) April 26, 2021
Two Distant Strangers employs the plot of Carter James, played by the incredibly talented Joey Bada$$, as he wakes up to a perfect morning that turns into his worst nightmare. That. Keeps. On. Repeating. When leaving his romantic partner Perri’s apartment, played by Zaria Simone, Carter walks out the door. He is immediately berated by a white police officer who begins to question the contents of his cigarette. The officer continues to harass Carter for no apparent reason, escalating to a physical confrontation which eventually leads to his demise. Or so he thinks.
‘Two Distant Strangers’ — a NowThis co-production — just won the Oscar for best live-action short. Congratulations to the filmmakers!
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 26, 2021
Watch writer and director @Travon Free talk to NowThis about the film below: #oscars pic.twitter.com/KrtoK2XNFQ
Travon Free is the first Black person to win the Oscar for the best short live-action film, making history. In the video above, Free is seen wearing a t-shirt that reads, “I am my Ancestor’s wildest dreams,” which certainly is true. The video begins with Free explaining that this film gives you the perspective of what it’s like to be a Black person in America 24/7, and you shouldn’t be okay with it. He was inspired by the protests of summer 2020 to make this film of a Black American’s reality. Free highlights that it is unfortunate a film like this needs to be produced in the first place.
"Today, the police will kill 3 people. And tomorrow police will kill 3 people," Travon Free, co-director of "Two Distant Strangers," says in his acceptance speech for Best Live Action Short Film.
— Shawna Chen (@shawnarchen) April 26, 2021
"Please don't be indifferent to our pain."
The entire message of the film is that it is a metaphor for the African-American experience in America. Two Distant Strangers is extremely thought-provoking and raw because the perspective it gives is quite realistic.
Upon accepting the Oscar, director Travon Free said, “I just ask that you please not be indifferent. Please don’t be indifferent to our pain,” Free and his co-director Martin Desmond Roe were seen wearing custom Dolce and Gabanna tuxedos with the names of 17 Black American names written on the inside to honor the victims of police brutality.
You can watch the film here.
Glitter Magazine Writer | Tweet me @gabbigabehart
