Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are)

One of the most revelatory “social issues” docs to hit theaters this year (NYC and LA on September 17) is the provocatively titled Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are), the latest from veteran filmmaker Rachel Boynton (Big Men, Our Brand Is Crisis). Executive produced by an all-star team that includes Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Sam Pollard and Brad Pitt, the film is a multi-year, multi-state historical journey spanning two (polar opposite) presidential administrations and several (equally segregated) cities from the liberal North to the conservative South. And by going places rarely seen onscreen – such as the McCallie School for Boys in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the Holmes County Central High School in Lexington, Mississippi – Boynton is able to give us all a lesson in radical empathy, allowing audiences to learn right alongside the director as she searches for answers from high school students as much as from academic scholars.

To read all about it visit Global Comment.