American Progress welcomes this month's feature film, This Divided State, produced and directed by Steven Greenstreet. A raw and riveting examination of the heated "red versus blue" rift in the nation, This Divided State begins in September 2004 with the presidential election fast approaching and the State of Utah ready to declare itself "Bush Country" once again.
However, this complacent state of Republican majority was rocked when Utah Valley State College announced that liberal filmmaker Michael Moore would speak on their campus two weeks before the election. Within 24 hours of the announcement, a media frenzy descended upon the school as angry community members and religious leaders shouted protests, pointed fingers, and quoted Mormon scripture. Some even claimed Moore's arrival would bring the Apocalypse.
The student body representatives who had invited Michael Moore soon were inundated with hate mail, death threats, and claims that they had committed "treason." An effort to Other students who supported Moore's right to speak were labeled "liberal," "anti-Mormon," or just simply "evil."
And thus continued the infamous "Moore War." Would conservative activists prevent Michael Moore from speaking? Would liberal Utahns win their fight for freedom of speech? The answer lies somewhere within This Divided State.
The Center for American Progress with Campus Progress is sponsoring a national tour to screen This Divided State at 22 college campuses.
Campus Progress and Reel Progress hosted the film’s Washington DC premiere on March 23.