BOYS STATE Special Presentations

Following the film at 9:35 PM EDT, watch a live discussion with directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine as well as special guests Ben Feinstein, Steven Garza, Rene Otero and Robert MacDougall, moderated by NBC News Political Director and Moderator of “Meet the Press,” Chuck Todd. 

Each year the American Legion hosts a “civics camp” for high school students (separated by gender) in states across the country. BOYS STATE closely follows a group of teenage boys as they attend one such program in Austin, Texas. The attendees are tasked with creating a mock government and spend the week campaigning for leadership and party platforms. Political ambitions are high and the gubernatorial race is hot. Are you curious what the next generation of our political system looks like?

Winner of the Sundance U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize, BOYS STATE explores politics through a coming-of-age lens. The result reveals American democracy and political division at its most hopeful and terrifying moments.
–Sarah Harris