Every year, when awards season arrives, I make an effort to watch as many of the nominated short films as possible. Although I’m not always successful—many of them are not as accessible in theaters or for streaming at home as they are this year—I find it to be an enjoyable way to explore different cultures and topics I otherwise might not have previously. My mother and I especially enjoy catching each of the short documentaries nominated at the Oscars and BAFTAs.

This year, we began with I Am Ready, Warden, a poignant look at a death row inmate’s rehabilitation alongside his victim’s son’s processing of his trauma regarding the loss of his father and what justice meant to him before John Henry Ramirez’s execution. I’ve seen plenty of films and read a few books about the death penalty, but few are as sharp and open-ended as Smriti Mundhra’s picture.

Then I watched The Only Girl in the Orchestra and Instruments of a Beating Heart, two touching portraits of the impact music and specifically the opportunity to make art can have on a woman like trailblazing Orin O’Brien or first-grade up-and-comer Ayame!

Finally, I sat down to watch Bill Morrison’s incident, which tells the tale of two Chicago police – and several bystanders sworn to protect and serve – slaying an innocent African American man they profiled then provoked in his own neighborhood.

Morrison’s short documentary is a compilation of body cam footage, audio, and public security camera footage. Some Google Earth animations are even present for precision.

The film opens in silence for several minutes before the audio from the street following the murder of Harith Augustus abruptly comes in, but by that time, it’s too late; shots have been fired and lives ended. This instance isn’t the only time you’ll see Harith slain either, I only made it a bit more than halfway through a second viewing before a calling to write this post, and if I remember correctly Augustus’ death is shown a few more times. Yes, it’s hard to watch, but no, you can’t look away. You need to know what’s happening in your streets. Not only that, but his corpse remains visible for the majority of the runtime.

“You did the right thing,” Officer Fleming says over and over, trying to calm down her partner, Officer Dillan Halley, who had just murdered Harith Augustus, a local barber, with five shots of his weapon.

This hurt because I’ve had to remind plenty of coworkers that they did the right thing even though it sucked and also let them know they were in the wrong if necessary. This, however, was two police officers looking to escape responsibility and look after themselves before their community or fellow officers on the scene they initiated.

I want to get through a few more viewings of Incident before I eventually write an essay to try and do it justice, but consider this my brief case for Bill Morrison and his collaborators winning an Oscar in the Best Documentary Short Film category next month!

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Featured Image from Rochak Shukla on Freepik