Hold Your Breath

Hold Your Breath was created in June of 2020 as the Black Lives Matter protests were sweeping the country. It was a reaction to comments that criticized the movement for its "violence", and tries to use metaphorical language to explain why violent protest can be a necessary tool in fighting oppression.

 

The Arundhati Roy quote used at the end is from an interview about her book “Broken Republic”, which argues the case for violent resistance, specifically in response to the Maoist guerrilla movement in India. “If you're an adivasi living in a forest village and 800 Central Reserve Police come and surround your village and start burning it, what are you supposed to do? Are you supposed to go on hunger strike? Can the hungry go on a hunger strike?”

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I created the animations in Photoshop, After Effects, and Premiere. The audio was pulled from news coverage of the protests.