Short Film ‘Red, White And Blue’, About The Effects Of Abortion Bans, Streaming For Free Through Election Week On YouTube

“Red, White And Blue,” an Oscar-nominated short film that follows a young mother forced to cross state lines for a critically urgent abortion, is streaming for free on YouTube through election week.

The film’s writer and first-time director, Nazrin Choudhury, said she felt “compelled” to write the entire short film in a single morning after the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which protected Americans’ right to choose abortion.

“‘Red, White and Blue’ has been a labor of love for everyone involved in making this film,” Choudhury said in a statement. “I chose this film as my directorial debut because I knew precisely how I wanted to tell this tale both on the page and visually. I knew this story needed to be handled with the utmost care, subtlety and sensitivity. It was important for me to land the nuance and different layers of every single beat inorder to serve the story and the characters who go on both an emotional and physical journey.”

Since the Academy Awards, “Red, White and Blue” has been screened across the country. Actress Lorraine Bracco, the film’s National Host Committee leader, describes it as “23 minutes you will never forget,” with a “gut-punch lying in wait.”

The film from Majic Ink Productions and public benefit entertainment studio Level Forward and executive produced by Samantha Bee stars Brittany Snow and Juliet Donenfeld. It follows a single mother from Arkansas forced to seek out an urgent and necessary abortion out of state.

“It became personally important to me to use my voice as a storyteller to tell a very human story that’s grounded in reality and seeks to empower the unseen and unheard voices in our communities who are often unable to speak for themselves,” Choudhury said. “I am incredibly grateful to an incredible cast that includes Brittany Snow and Juliet Donenfeld who gave it their all as well as our phenomenal crew who went above and beyond to tell this story with me because they all believed in this film.”

Each YouTube view will generate a donation to the film’s Purple Parlor Fund benefiting non-partisan 501c3 organizations in reproductive rights, justice, and the film’s impact campaign.

“Rarely have I seen a film with the power to bring people together around our common humanity as effectively as ‘Red, White and Blue’,” said actress and activist Jane Fonda. “This is a film for right now, and we need it to be seen urgently by as many people as possible.”

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, students and faculty from the University of Pennsylvania will participate in a national, student-led, free livestream screening event and moderated discussion featuring Choudhury, LaTosha Brown of Black Voters Matter, Professors Melissa Murray and Kate Shaw of “Strict Scrutiny,” UPenn law student Madeleine Morales, Co-chair of UPenn’s If/When/How, and more.

The livestream will virtually connect schools from states including Georgia, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, California, and New York among others. Students can pre-register for free at rwbscreenings.com/schools

Upcoming “Red, White and Blue” screenings and events can be found at rwbscreenings.com. 

TMX contributed to this story.