Reel People: Michael B Jordan is Oscar Grant III

The film is Fruitvale Station. The film is the premier feature film of Ryan Coogler.

Oscar Grant III

Oscar Grant was born February 27, 1986. He lived in Hayward,  California. Oscar dropped out of school in the 10th grade and eventually earned his GED.

He had several jobs at Kentucky Fried Chicken before becoming a butcher at a small local grocer in Oakland.

In 2007 Oscar Grant was pulled over at a traffic stop and he had to be subdued with a stun gun. Grant pulled a gun out and fled the scene. He was sentenced to 16 months in state prison for the offense.

A few months after his release from prison, he was celebrating on New Years Eve January 1, 2009 in the Embarcadero in San Francisco. Returning with a group of friends on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train he was detained by police on Fruitvale station where he was returning after the night of celebrating with friends. The police had been called in with a report that there was fighting on the train from a group who was intoxicated.

Upon exiting the train, Police Officer Johannes Mehserle was one of the officers restraining Grant. Grant was resisting arrest. Officer Mehserle pulled his gun and shot Grant in the back, in what would be ruled involuntary manslaughter in 2010.

The event was captured on cell phone video and put online where it received millions of views.

Fruitvale Station

The film Fruitvale Station captures the last 24 hours in Oscar Grant's life, incorporating real video images from the events in the film. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival where U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize as well as the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award.

The film stars recent Oscar winner Octavia Spencer as Oscar's mother Wanda.

Will the young breakout actor Michael B. Jordan gain some critical momentum, and maybe even Oscar attention for his role as this Real (Reel) Person?