Dev Hynes performs live score for short film on the NYC Ferguson protests

Following last week’s controversial court ruling in the US’ Ferguson case on the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, New York resident and filmmaker Aaron Stewart-Ahn has debuted a short film on the NYC-based protests to the ruling. The score is performed by none other than fellow Big Apple dweller, Dev Hynes of Blood Orange.

A piano improvisation performed live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Hynes’ score is a dramatic and powerful accompaniment to Stewart-Ahn’s scenes of peaceful but impassioned protest. Stream the film below.

It’s not the first time that Hynes has lent his support to the ongoing conversation on race relations and police brutality in America. At his performance at Lollapalooza this year, Hynes wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the names of victims of police brutality. As he left the stage, he was assaulted by security guards at the festival, leaving him on crutches for many of his remaining summer dates.

Speaking a couple of weeks later, after the Ferguson shooting, Hynes made a statement on the matter on stage in Central Park, New York. “I hate fucking abuse of power,” he said. “And I hate this fucking police state that we’re all starting to live in. I don’t mean New York and I don’t mean America, I mean the fucking world right now.“