''Better This World'' is a 2011 documentary film that was directed by Kelly Duane and Katie Galloway. It had its world premiere at the
San Francisco International Film Festival
The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...
on April 23, 2011, where it won two Golden Gate Awards for Best Documentary Feature and Bay Area Documentary Feature.
The documentary follows activists Bradley Crowder and
David McKay as they plan to protest the
2008 Republican Convention. The film recounts their journey from boyhood friends growing up together in
Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County.
At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...
, to the convention in
St. Paul, Minnesota, and ends soon after their trials.
Synopsis
Told mostly from the young men's point of view, the film highlights on their political past growing up in a conservative town while they held more liberal, anti-war beliefs. These beliefs led them down a path towards a well-known activist,
Brandon Darby, who made a name for himself for his work with
hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
victims. Known as an aggressive and no-nonsense activist, Darby had credibility from his affiliation with the
Common Ground Collective
The Common Ground Collective is a decentralized network of non-profit organizations offering support to the residents of New Orleans. It was formed in the fall of 2005 in the Algiers neighborhood of the city in the days after Hurricane Katrina r ...
or Common Ground Relief which worked to secure aid for hurricane victims.
Darby, McKay, and Crowder, along with a few others, planned and executed a plan to protest the convention. Together they made shields to protect themselves from the police departments use of rubber bullets against protesters and headed off to the convention. Interviews with the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
suggested that they were aware of these activities all along. They were intimately tracking these (and many other) protesters, and when the group reached St. Paul, they found it to be more like a police state than a city. As the story plays out, we learn exactly how the FBI became so knowledgeable: informants. And in this case, their informant was Brandon Darby.
After their homemade shields were stolen at the convention, the men, along with Darby, became increasingly paranoid and terrified. Crowder and McKay decided to make
molotov cocktail
A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flamma ...
s to be used in property destruction. They changed their minds, but didn't dispose of the devices. Soon after, the men were arrested under terrorism charges and their faces were plastered all over the news media. But the question of exactly who is to blame is at the center of the film. The men trusted and emulated Darby, and according to them, Darby influenced every decision that was made. So the viewer has to ask if they were entrapped. And if they were indeed entrapped, does that mean the government who is trusted to seek out terrorists to ensure freedom is implicit in terrorist activities?
Cast
*Scott Crow
*Brad Crowder
*
Brandon Darby
*David McKay
*Matthew Vadum
Reception
Critical reception for ''Better This World'' has been positive and the film holds a rating of 100% "fresh" on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 9 reviews.
Awards
*Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Dallas Video Festival (2011, won)
*Best Documentary at the
Gotham Independent Film Awards
The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...
(2011, won)
*Creative Recognition Award for Best Music at the
International Documentary Association
International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmm ...
(2011 - Paul Brill)
*
Golden Gate Award for Bay Area Documentary Feature at the San Francisco International Film Festival (2011, won)
*Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary Feature at the San Francisco International Film Festival (2011, won)
*Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the
Sarasota Film Festival
The Sarasota Film Festival is a film festival located in Sarasota, Florida and is held in April. Its mission is "to celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-lo ...
(2011, won)
*
(2011, won)
References
External links
*
*
Better This Worldat
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
{{Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Documentary
2011 films
2011 documentary films
Documentary films about American politics
Documentary films about terrorism
Terrorism in the United States
2008 Republican National Convention
POV (TV series) films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films