Live Action and Animated Short Film wins highlight social issues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3-8_nIH0HU
The past couple years sparked huge debates with gun control and its effects in mass shootings in schools, as well as police brutality with the Black Lives Matter movement.
This year, the winning short films in both the live action and animated categories commented on one of those issues.
Two Distant Strangers (whose win you can see above) features a man stuck in a time loop where each day ends with him being murdered by the same police officer in different ways.
Upon winning, co-director Travon Free stated a horrific statistic, “On average, the police in America every day kill three people, which amounts to about a thousand people a year. And those people happen to disproportionately be black people.”
With police reform being a heavy topic after the uprisal following the death of George Floyd, his statement hit hard.
If Anything Happens I Love You (whose win you can see below) follows two parents struggling with their grief after their daughter is a victim in a mass school shooting.
“We dedicate this film to all those who have lost loved ones to gun violence,” co-director Will McCormack said. “We deserve better than to live in a country where more than 100 people die by gun violence every single day.”
Gun control has also been a conversation in the political sphere for years. Both wins argue for stronger stances on these reforms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b127Xpwjx0
