Documentarians Robert May and Barry Levinson unveiled how the current political divide tore apart a once idyllic Bucks County, Penn.
“Bucks County, USA” originally premiered its first two episodes at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The docuseries, which tells the story of two young girls who became best friends in spite of their parents’ opposing political views, will now premiere nationwide this September.
The first trailer, which TheWrap obtained exclusively, illustrated how distrust and personal attacks turned Bucks County upside down. School board races turned into battlegrounds, as opposing political parties fought over policy and the minds of their children.
Two 14-year-old girls, however — Evi and Vanessa — defied this divide and remained best friends despite their parents’ opposing political beliefs. The docuseries was filmed over four years in the Pennsylvania county, described in the series as “A purple city in a purple state.”
Tensions laid low until the 2020 COVID pandemic, the documentary stated. One source in the trailer said that the division started after schools were shut down over COVID lockdown restrictions.
“The superintendent was incompetent to get the school open,” one of the young girls’ dads said.
“He’s the one that manipulated our school boards in an enormous way,” the other girl’s mother replied.
Footage from the documentary showed tensions rising at school board meetings, leading to parents’ dismissals by security.
On one side of the street, children outside held signs in support of LGBTQ+ rights with pride flag temporary tattoos on their cheeks, while on the other side was filled with Trump supporters who held Make America Great Again flags and signs stating “gender ideology does not belong in schools.”
“They’re using children for their own gain and in the process they are hurting children,” one of the 14-year-old girls stated.
“What is going to happen to our children? What is the legacy that we adults are leaving for them?” another woman asked with tears in her eyes.
Following the world premiere of its first two episodes at the Sundance Film Festival, the show will air on local public television stations and be available to stream via PBS.org and the PBS app starting Sept. 20.
Producer Jason Sosnoff and director and executive producer May told TheWrap that talking to “the other side” themselves was actually a “heart-opening experience.”
“You start to realize the more you talk to people that you have an incredible amount of judgment you’re not even aware of it,” Sosnoff said. “And so I found myself actually responding very openly to the conservatives in the piece and just sort of seeing how they felt they had been demonized. And when you start talking to somebody for long enough, particularly if you’re in the same room as them, you’re going to start to see their humanity.”
He added that talking to these people was helpful, but earning their trust actually came down to listening. Doing that resulted in the conservative community enjoying the episodes they saw.
Watch the trailer exclusively above.
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