Matsoukas was on the red carpet for the premiere of her directorial debut in London, just days before the BAFTA awards, Britain's acting awards, which have been criticized by some for their lack of diversity.

As the BAFTA's all-white line-up of nominees in the acting categories trends on social media as #BaftasSoWhite, audiences looking for more diversity will find it in Queen & Slim.

From The Weekender

Bedside tech: Five gadgets to monitor how well you rest

From budget bands to high-end rings, sleep tracking has never been more accessible.

Read on The Weekender

Matsoukas' drama is about a black couple whose Tinder date ends with the duo on the run after they kill a white police officer in self-defense.

"When I read the script it was everything I had been looking for in a feature - it was political, it had something to say, it felt really necessary and it was entertaining," Matsoukas told Reuters at the film's London premiere.

"It also represented a community of people - black people, my people - that we don't always see on screen and I really wanted to tell our stories to our lens, unfiltered, and we were able to do that."

Read also: '1917' scoops top Hollywood director prize for Mendes

Actors Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith joined Matsoukas on the red carpet to celebrate ahead of the film's release in Britain on Jan. 31.

The film opens with Kaluuya and Turner-Smith’s characters "Slim" and "Queen" on an awkward date that appears to be going nowhere.

Driving home along a deserted Cleveland street after dinner, they are pulled over by a lone white police officer and become involved in an altercation that results in Queen being shot in the leg and Slim killing the policeman in self-defense.

Turner-Smith said she hoped the subject matter started conversations for people.

"The film doesn't really have an answer to any of the issues it raises, it's really just bringing them up to light and talking about it, that trauma, that tension, that fear, that black people live in and at the same time being able to exist and find love," she said.

The film opened in the United States in late November 2019.

Popular

BI surprises with third consecutive rate cut as Fed move looms

Explainer: Social media as town square, battleground in Indonesia’s protests

Let consumers choose