Spike Lee Releases ‘3 Brothers’ Short Film as Part of George Floyd Protests

Oscar-winning director/writer Spike Lee released the short today on Twitter, as nationwide protests against police brutality continue.

In his Twitter post, Lee introduces the short film as "3 Brothers — Radio Raheem, Eric Garner, and George Floyd."

Following a title card asking, "Will History Stop Repeating Itself?" the director intercuts the graphic, real-life footage of Eric Garner and George Floyd's arrests and deaths with a scene from his 1989 film Do the Right Thing. In the scene, Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) is strangled and killed by white police officers.

Lee debuted the film during an appearance on CNN yesterday.

He told host Don Lemon, "This is not new. We saw with the riots in the '60s, with the assassination of Dr. King. Every time something jumps off, and we don't get our justice, people are reacting the way they feel they have to, to be heard."

Garner died in July 2014 in Staten Island after being restrained in a chokehold by a police officer. Floyd died on May 25 in Minneapolis after a police officer pinned him to the ground using his knee.

Lee won an Academy Award in 2019 for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman. The film is based on the memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth.

You can watch Lee's short below. (CW: This video contains scenes of graphic violence.)

Video is no longer available: twitter.com/SpikeLeeJoint/status/1267269978320826368