How many of you have heard of Boys State? I (Kelli) was actually Girls State in California was I was in high school! Yea, at one point in my life I may or may not have wanted to be the first female President of the United States. While Entertainment reporting may not be as impactful to the nation, it is so much fun and in a turn of irony, it has me reporting on an award-winning documentary about Boys State!
Back to what is Boys State? Well, it’s an annual, week-long program in which kids all over the country gather for an elaborate mock exercise: building their own state government. In the case of the documentary, they focused on a thousand Texas high school seniors. Filmmakers follow several of the teens and we sat down with four that definitely leave an impression:
Ben Feinstein, a Reagan-loving, arch-conservative who brims with confidence despite personal setbacks; and Steven Garza, a progressive-minded child of Mexican immigrants who stands by his convictions amidst the sea of red; Robert MacDougall, an easy-going yet complexed and layered jokester who seems to instinctively play to the crowd; and Rene Otero, one of the few African-Americans at Boys State.
It won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and now the acclaimed documentary “Boys State” is in theatres ahead of its global debut on Apple TV+ on Friday, August 14.
