American Freedoms A Documentary

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What it's about

I am a professor of U.S. history and for decades I’ve talked with people about the tireless efforts made by self-described "Americans" to secure and protect what they consider to be their “freedoms.” We are reminded daily—in our politics, popular culture, even advertising—that the demand for freedom has been defining of the American experience and most individuals, when you ask, have a lot to say about the subject. Yet we know that there has never been consensus in the U.S. about freedom’s meaning or boundaries, about whose freedoms deserve protection, or even on fundamental shared principles. What, exactly, are "American" freedoms?

The disagreements shouldn't surprise; the mix of people who have called the U.S. home can claim widely different experiences and, understandably, their expectations have ranged widely too. Still a belief in the nation's commitment to an abstract principle has always loomed large and remains influential, for good reason. And so this film asks: What freedoms have been unique to life in the U.S. or essential to defining it, and why don’t Americans agree upon the answer?

I am filming conversations on this subject with hundreds of people nationwide. Has living in the United States allowed them to enjoy particular political, cultural, economic, intellectual, and personal freedoms? Do they think that Americans sometimes take basic freedoms for granted or claim those that are undeserved? Why is there little agreement about freedom's meaning or definition, about what it takes to secure rights and privileges that countless Americans have come to expect, or about the reasons that freedoms have at times been lost or denied?

The interviews

The story presented in American Freedoms will be driven and literally told by the hundreds of individuals who agree to be interviewed. Their voices, alone, will narrate; no "experts" (or filmmaker) will chime in to offer commentary. And because so many people will be featured, no participant will get extensive screen time. The film won't "profile" individuals or focus on any one person's views or experiences. Those who appear on screen will be identified by their first name and, if they choose, a few terms of self-description. And the film will not pass judgement or take a position on how to best understand freedom's meanings and histories.

Instead, the interviews will document why the idea of freedom and the politics of freedom in the United States have always been elusive, contested, and consequential. The result will be a collage of conversations, where people talk about experiences, impressions, and convictions and so present stories that will be familiar to many but also stories that will surprise and even confuse. The project invites participants and viewers alike to put competing understandings of American Freedoms—freedoms imagined, aspired to, and realized—in conversation with their own.