Fruitvale Station is a biographical drama film written and directed by Ryan Coogler, which is based on the events leading to the murder of Oscar Grant --a 22 year old man and father-- who was killed in 2009 by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer Johannes Mehserle at the Fruitvale BART station in East Oakland.
From the filmmakers:
This is the true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who wakes up on the morning of December 31, 2008 and feels something in the air. Not sure what it is, he takes it as a sign to get a head start on his resolutions: being a better son to his mother, whose birthday falls on New Year's Eve, being a better partner to his girlfriend, who he hasn't been completely honest with as of late, and being a better father to T, their beautiful 4 year old daughter. He starts out well, but as the day goes on, he realizes that change is not going to come easy. He crosses paths with friends, family, and strangers, each exchange showing us that there is much more to Oscar than meets the eye. But it would be his final encounter of the day, with police officers at the Fruitvale Bart station that would shake the Bay Area to its very core, and cause the entire nation to be witnesses to the story of Oscar Grant.
The film doesn't mention a single time the name of the police officer who killed Oscar Grant. So Chinaka Hodge made a play called "Chasing Mehserle".
[Watts doesn’t feel safe in this world anymore. In fact, Watts has never felt safe. Living in West Oakland, he resolved never to leave the house again after the 1991 Rodney King beating by police and the subsequent riots. Then still a child, Watts decided that if that was how black men were treated in the world outside, it would be madness to ever go out again. So for decades he’s just been holed up in his room, reading books. Now pushing 30, he finally summons the will to go out when his mother insists he get a job. It’s New Year’s Day, 2009, and the United States has elected an African-American president. Surely it must be safe now, right?
When he finally ventures out and learns that BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle shot passenger Oscar Grant the night before while the unarmed young man was lying face down on the ground, it causes more than a relapse. It gives Watts a new mission in life: he’s going to find Mehserle...]
