TWO DISTANT STRANGERS & DO NOT SPLIT

If you haven’t already, you should check out the live-action short Oscar winner TWO DISTANT STRANGERS, streaming on Netflix. Written and co-directed by Travon Free, the short manipulates tropes of both the time-loop genre and the racism-being-solved-by-friendship genre in a story of a young Black man (Joey Bada$$), who is trapped in a loop in which he is killed by police every day. Go watch. Also, fun fact: As an EP on the movie, Kevin Durant now has an Academy Award in addition to his MVP and Larry O’Brien trophies. 

I also need to recommend a documentary short that didn’t win on Sunday: DO NOT SPLIT. Available to stream on Vimeo here, the short captures protests in Hong Kong in fall 2019 with footage directly from the streets amidst clashes between police and protesters. Interviews set against the backdrop of tear gas and Molotov cocktails convey the protestors’ ideals and political goals. You can find it where all of the nominees are streaming here.

—Nolan Russell, Executive Assistant