“Girls State" follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where 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. In “Girls State,” the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more 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.
Girls State
Documentary
1h 35m
Director: Jesse Moss and Amanda
McBaine
Cast: : Emily Worthmore, Maddie Rowan, Tochi Ihekona, Faith Glasgow,
Cecilia Bartin, Nisha Murali and Brooke Taylor
