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Eisner/Lauder New Views Documentaries and Dialogue Series: Boys State

Note: This is a past event, additional resources may be available below.

Sun Jul 26, 2020

Date

Sun Jul 26, 2020
4:00pm – 6:00pm EDT

Location


Virtual

Contact

    [email protected]

Hosts

  1. Arts Program

Aspen Film and the Aspen Institute Arts Program, in conjunction with Apple Original Films and A24, present a one-night only, pre-release, virtual screening of acclaimed documentary Boys State

This 2020 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Documentary Prize Winner will be available to stream on July 26 at 6pm MT/8pm ET/5pm PT followed by a pre-recorded Q&A with Filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, and subjects from the film.

On sale at aspenfilm.org/boys-state/

BOYS STATE (2020)
DOCUMENTARY | 1 HR 49 MIN

Sunday, July 26
6pm MT/8pm ET/5pm PT
*Note this is one-night-only.
Immediately following the film will be a Q&A featuring filmmakers Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss, along with film subjects Ben Feinstein, Steven Garza, and René Otero, and moderated by Aspen Institute Executive Vice President Elliot Gerson.

On sale at aspenfilm.org/boys-state/

BOYS STATE takes you on 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. MORE ABOUT BOYS STATE:With all the rousing emotions of an underdog sports drama, at first glance, Boys State is the story of a no-holds-barred, mock teen election. But it is also a rare crowd-pleasing tale that holds a revelatory mirror up to a moment we’re so wrapped up in right now it’s hard to see it clearly—one of the most politically divided and disillusioned, yet fired-up, moments since America’s founding.The film is rife with election fever; but there isn’t a seasoned politician in it. Instead, it embeds itself into the vibrant and volatile relationships between a group of alternately knowing and naïve, testosterone-fueled and still-maturing Texas teenagers embroiled in a venerable, summertime political competition known as Boys State.Sponsored by the American Legion since 1935, Boys State (and the gender-separated Girls State) is a national civics education program designed to immerse high school juniors into the nuts and bolts of public governance. It is also a take-no-prisoners battle for victory. At the core of the week-long event is the pitting of two fictional parties—Federalists and Nationalists—against one another in a contentious campaign for Governor and other key positions for which there can only be one victor. From within this electric atmosphere—packed with equal parts teen spirit, adolescent angst and the hilariously, maddeningly hyper-opinionated manners of our times—filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss focus in on the stirring journeys of four talented boys destined to clash.BOYS STATE, an Apple Original Films and A24 release, will debut on Apple TV+ on Friday, August 14. New Views is generously sponsored by Jane and Michael Eisner and Leonard Lauder.