Boys State: A Reflection of a Polarised Society

Today is a special US presidential election edition of Factual America. Americans are heading to the polls. Will they re-elect Donald Trump? Or will they opt for a change and vote for Joe Biden? We can’t say either way with any certainty. What we can say is that America is a polarised society. And whatever the result, the politics of division are here to stay, so it seems. That division and polarisation are captured brilliantly in Boys State, the Sundance Jury Prize Winner from filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss. The documentary shows what would happen if you put a thousand teenage boys together and put them in charge of the political landscape of America.  Despite the hand-me-down politics of their parents and grandparents, can a bunch of Texas teenage boys provide hope and point the way ahead? We found out when we caught up recently with Amanda and Jesse from their home in California. “It’s a little bit like the Stanford Prison Experiment, but for the Government.” – Jesse Moss