Davis Guggenheim '86 hosts this panel discussion with Boys State filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBain, and Steven Garza, Robert MacDougall, and René Otero, three of the student subjects of the film.
The sensational winner of the Grand Jury Prize for documentary at this year's Sundance Film Festival is a wildly entertaining and continually revealing immersion into a week-long annual program in which a thousand Texas high school seniors gather for an elaborate mock exercise: building their own state government. Filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine closely track the escalating tensions that arise within a particularly riveting gubernatorial race, training their cameras on unforgettable teenagers like Ben, a Reagan-loving arch-conservative who brims with confidence despite personal setbacks, and Steven, a progressive-minded child of Mexican immigrants who stands by his convictions amidst the sea of red. In the process, they have created a complex portrait of contemporary American masculinity, as well as a microcosm of our often dispiriting national political divisions that nevertheless manages to plant seeds of hope. An Apple and A24 release.
Watch the film before attending the panel. Register for the 6 p.m screening here.
Hosted by the Watson Institute, the Brown Arts Initiative, the Ivy Film Festival, and Brown Votes.
Cosponsored by No Labels, Brown Motion Pictures, and the Brown Political Review.
Election 2020
The John F. Kennedy Jr. Initiative for Documentary Film and Social Progress