The Hidden Vote

Muslims for Trump, Navajo coal advocates, gun-owning LGBT activists – what do they all have in common?

minority voters
Series
Indie Lens Storycast
Premiere Date
October 8, 2018
Length
41:33 minutes
Funding Initiative
Short-Form Open Call
Producer/Director

Ben Rekhi

Ben Rekhi is an award-winning filmmaker of mixed Indian and American descent. After working with the Coen bros. in the camera department of O Brother, Where Art Thou? Rekhi was hired by George Clooney to shoot the behind the scenes for his directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Rekhi went on to produce the Spirit Award-nominated feature film Bomb the System, Show more direct the SXSW Audience Award winner Waterborne and write the English Dialogues for Ben Kingsley and Amitabh Bachchan in the Bollywood film Teen Patti. Rekhi’s second feature as director The Ashram stars Academy Award Winner Melissa Leo, and he is currently in post-production on his third feature Maria, a crime thriller set against the drug wars in the Philippines. Show less

Other ITVS Films
Fallout
Producer/Director

Adithya Sambamurthy

Adithya Sambamurthy is a self-shooting producer and director, newly relocated to London from California. Over the past 15 years, he has worked on television documentaries, investigative news magazine segments, web series, and a number of independent productions. Along the way, he’s won an Emmy, been nominated three times, and shared in a Peabody Show more award. Show less

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The Film

Muslims for Trump, Navajo coal advocates, gun-owning LGBT activists – what do they all have in common? They are all minorities in their own communities, and they all confound commonly held beliefs about identity politics.

While polls show that minority voters in general view President Trump and the Republican party unfavorably, these communities are hardly monolithic. A closer look reveals significant divisions within voting blocs that are classified by race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, and these differences can lead to surprising choices. From African-Americans in the deep south to Muslims in the rust belt; Native Americans in the southwest to LGBT members in the Bible belt; these voters until recently remained hidden in plain sight. In a climate where the left and right have become increasingly polarized, this diverse group across the political spectrum may hold the key to a better understanding of how our electorate forms political beliefs.

The Hidden Vote is a documentary series that challenges widespread assumptions of how many Americans choose their local, state, and federal representatives in the age of Trump. What really matters to people? What shapes their values and informs their voting behavior? The series aims to uncover the quirks and surprises in the modern American electorate, revealing that, like many things in the Trump era, politics isn’t always what you’d expect it to be…

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