“BETTER THIS WORLD” TELLS GRIPPING
TALE OF IDEALISM, ACTIVISM, CRIME, AND BETRAYAL
~ How Did Two Boyhood
Friends from Midland, Texas Find Themselves Accused
of Domestic Terrorism? ~
September 2011
New York, NY – The
timely new documentary BETTER THIS WORLD tells a provocative
and cautionary story about the shifting fault lines
of civil liberties, protest and government vigilance.
The documentary premieres on Tuesday, September 6, 2011
at 10:00 p.m. on PBS as part of the 24th season of POV.
It’s the story of Bradley
Crowder and David McKay, two boyhood friends from the
heart of Texas, who were accused of intending to firebomb
the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St.
Paul, Minnesota. The “Texas Two” faced multiple domestic
terrorism charges, agonizing legal decisions and decades
in prison.
BETTER THIS WORLD follows
the radicalization of these boyhood friends from Midland,
Texas, under the tutelage of revolutionary activist
Brandon Darby. The results: eight homemade bombs and
a high-stakes entrapment defense hinging on the actions
of a controversial FBI informant.
The documentary goes to the
heart of the war on terror and its impact on civil liberties
and political dissent in post-9/11 America. It reconstructs
the story of the relationship between these three men
and the subsequent twists and turns of their legal cases
through interviews with Crowder, McKay and their family
members; FBI agents and attorneys; and a wealth of intriguing
surveillance and archival footage.
This film presents a well-documented
account and untangling a web of questions: Why did Darby,
a committed activist, become a government informant?
What led the boyhood friends to build eight homemade
bombs? Did Darby and law enforcement save innocent victims
from domestic terrorists bent on violence and destruction?
Were Crowder and McKay impressionable youths set up
by a government informant? Or does the answer lie somewhere
in between?
BETTER THIS WORLD is the winner
of Best Documentary Feature prizes at both the San Francisco
International Film Festival and Sarasota Film Festival.
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