This level of comfort makes Grant’s death feel personal, leaving you rooting for his survival in the midst of a painful awareness that history had other plans.īut after years of anger and tension in the Bay Area, the Weinstein Company, which purchased Fruitvale Station for $2.5 million at Sundance earlier this year, is using it as an opportunity.Īs stated in big bold letters at the top of the post-screening business cards, they’re inviting everyone to “Commit to end social injustice in the name of Oscar Grant.” (A fitting sentiment, although the enticement of winning a gift card is jarring in this context.) The film’s website encourages visitors to share stories of overcoming prejudice, bullying, social injustice or mistreatment with their “I AM _” campaign. Meanwhile, the other cast members come across so natural and real it’s as if we’re peeping through a key hole at an real-life family in the kitchen. It’s beautifully and subtly acted by Jordon, Melonie Diaz (playing Grant’s girlfriend and mother of his daughter), and Octavia Spencer (playing Grant’s mother). I was questioning who we were as a community.” Soon after the shooting, Coogler decided to make the film. He recently told the New York Times, “When we saw that happen to Oscar, and we saw it on video, it was like the wind getting knocked out of us. And oftentimes, people won’t stand at that end of the platform.”ĭirector Ryan Coogler helms this story of Grant’s final day, and included in his retelling is a brutally visceral recreation of what happened that New Year’s morning on the platform.Ĭoogler grew up near Oakland, and at the time of the shooting he was home on break from film school. The hole was later filled by BART officials, but Jordan told the paper, “There’s energy at that spot-people know it and what happened there. “I remember putting my chest to the hole and being scared while I was shooting that scene,” he told the Los Angeles Times. During filming of Fruitvale Station, Jordan found a bullet hole where Grant was shot. The story of Oscar Grant left a painful scar on the Bay Area, and a literal one on the floor tile where he was killed. He was released after 11 months in prison. Mehserle was charged with murder, but a jury only found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Officer Mehserle later testified that instead of grabbing a Taser, he mistakenly grabbed his gun. Bay Area residents were incensed and protests erupted. Numerous cellphone users captured the scene and uploaded their videos. While attempting to restrain Grant, officer Johannes Mehserle shot him in the back. A few hours later, Grant, the 22-year-old father of a 4-year-old girl, died at Highland Hospital. The train stopped at Fruitvale Station and transit officers responded to the scene. Just after midnight on January 1, 2009, Oakland resident Oscar Grant was riding home from San Francisco on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), when he became involved in an altercation.
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