Venice-Bound Trump-Era Documentary ‘Homegrown’ Unveils First Clip (EXCLUSIVE)

3 weeks ago 2

Director Michael Premo’s “Homegrown,” a documentary chronicling right-wing activists during the 2020 U.S. election cycle, has unveiled its first clip.

The film, which is premiering at the Venice Critics’ Week, is described as “an unflinching chronicle of Americans at war with each other,” and offers a verité portrait of a fractured America.

“Homegrown” follows three right-wing activists as they campaign for Donald Trump and build a movement they hope will outlast his presidency. The documentary captures their journey from the summer of 2020 through the aftermath of the election, when they take to the streets believing the election was stolen.

Premo, who directed, produced, and served as cinematographer, told Variety: “In the 21st century, democracies die, not with a bang, like a military coup, but with a whimper, as faith in the idea is eroded from within. A democracy only endures when written rules are reinforced by even stronger unwritten democratic norms and values. In the United States democratic norms have been eroding steadily since around 1994. Today, there is a growing movement of people losing faith in American democracy’s ability to protect their interests. They are using violence and the threat of violence to fight for what they believe in. We wanted to better understand who these people are and what they believe.”

“Too often we define ourselves by our differences, instead of trying to understand our similarities. These days so many of us are so siloed in our own self-selecting bubbles that we rarely interact with anyone with different perspectives. This contributes to reducing people who have differing opinions into one-dimensional caricatures. But people are complex. Systems of power are complex. When we reduce people to stereotypes, the answers to our challenges can only be stereotypical. Like, ‘Oh, they just need to be better educated,’ but this hollow refrain is classist and elitist. We face complex challenges. If we are truly committed to building a pluralistic democracy, we need to nuance our understanding of all the people in our society. So, we felt it is important to actually talk to the people heeding the clarion call of us vs them politics,” Premo added.

The film was shot across multiple locations including Salt Lake City, New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, Portland and Washington D.C.

Premo said: “We started filming in 2018 and didn’t stop rolling until the fall of 2021. This might be the only film that captured these unprecedented events from the passenger seat, as they unfolded.”

Watch the clip here: