REVOLT Media & TV Chairman Sean “Diddy” Combs and actor/rapper Joey Badass have much to celebrate today (April 25) because their film Two Distant Strangers has just won an Oscar in the Best Live-Action Short Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards.
The movie was directed by Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, and Badass stars in it, while Diddy serves as executive producer. Jesse Williams, Lawrence Bender and Chris Uettwiller have producing credits, as well.
It’s about a young Black man who gets killed by a police officer, but wakes up every single day reliving the moment where his life is taken away, as he tries hard to make it out of the deadly encounters each time. It’s a deja vu thriller that grabs the audience due to the realistic tone, as so many Black men, women and children are killed by white policemen in this country — and even around the world — with little to no consequence.
In a previous interview with REVOLT about the film, Free admitted that it was inspired by the times we live in. “The film was born out of the repetition of seeing stories about Black people who were being killed by the police over and over again,” the director said. “And having to relive the outrage, and the sadness, and the grief, and then the acceptance of those events over and over again. And in doing that, one particular day it just kind of occurred to me…that sparked the idea of [what does that] look like on paper — on film?”
This Academy award win is the first for Badass and Free — and we’re sure that it won’t be the last. The director even gave the rapper/actor his props for his amazing work ethic while shooting the film.
“He was so dialed-in. He was so attentive. He cared about the part. He cared about the character. He wanted to be good. He did not take it in any passive way, whatsoever, and he was really great to work with…” Free added. “I’m excited, hopefully, to watch him become one of our generation’s newest best actors.”
This is Diddy’s second Oscar win as a producer.