Hvordan ville demokratiet i USA se ud, hvis det blev overladt til teenagepiger? I denne dokumentar kaster unge kvindelige ledere fra vidt forskellige baggrunde sig ud i et dybdegående eksperiment, hvor man opbygger en stat fra bunden.
Directed and produced by award-winning filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine together with Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio, the documentary follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a weeklong immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy. They build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day. The backdrop of “Girls State” is a country deep in democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under extreme political polarization. As questions of race and gender equality in a representational democracy reach a fever pitch, these young women confront the complicated paths women must navigate to build political power. Following a distinctly female perspective and filled with teenage insecurity, biting humor and a yearning for true friendship, the young leaders of “Girls State” win hearts and minds — not just elections.
