REVIEW BY CJ NEUMANN
QBliss Magazine
When most think about a political documentary, you think abouteither a slant leaning from either right or left, a Michael Moorecommentary, or worse outright brow-beating from a political pundittelling you that you are WRONG WRONG WRONG!!
Director Kelly Nyksexplores how partisan politics have divided citizens of this nation andwhat that means for the future of our country.
I was not only pleasantly surprised about Split,but I was very impressed! There was no slant and the story was takenfrom all angles by asking people all across America the following 6questions:
What divides us and why?
Can we talk about politics?
What role does faith play in poltics?
Does the media divide us?
Do campaigns divide us?
What is the answer?
Conservative and Liberal, wealthy and poor, gay, straight, whatever,Split takeson the same struggles and questions that many of us ask. There are nopat answers to any of the questions that Nyks asks, it all depends onyour point of view and your value system. I was struck by the honestanswers of the people interviewed that include Robert Putnam, NormOrnstein, Tucker Carlson, Noam Chomsky, Thomas Frank, Jesse Jackson andaverage Joe and Jane America that he encountered in his travels acrossthe United States.
Though it took Nyks nearly 3 ½ years tocomplete, the timing could not be more perfect because of our politicalclimate and the impending election in the next few months. This is notonly an awakening to our political process and our history, but itshould serve as a wake-up call to all in America. Are things reallydifferent now than they were 200 years ago? Has anything reallychanged at all?
Split made it's world premiere in Dallas during The AFI Dallas – International Film Festival andwas very well received by all who attended. The question and answersession after was just as informative as the film itself.
Split shouldnot only be in theaters in a limited release. It should be requiredviewing for everyone including high school and college students. Partroad movie, part civics lesson, Split shows that the differences in America are not just black and white, nor are they just red and blue.
Split: A Divided America has already been nominated for the Target 10 Award and the ThinLine Film Fest Award.