The Great American Lie

The “American Dream” - a concept that grows ever more politically charged–is examined and critiqued in Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s gripping third film. Newsom weaves interviews with famous cultural critics, professors, and local thought leaders - Nicholas Kristof, Linda Darling Hammond, and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, among others – with on-the-ground activists, including Oakland-based principal Ruby De Tie, who are working every day to help those less fortunate and revealing the many ways in which Americans have been failed by the myth of social mobility. Closely looking at the current political environment and the ways in which the greatness of America is called into question, Newsom expertly presents the case that many systems – education, prison, health care, minimum wage – are broken and questions how they can be fixed. Ascribing both “masculine” and “feminine” terms to how the government speaks for and about these systems and its citizens, The Great American Lie becomes the timely third installment that blends elements from her previous work to unpack bigger and pressing issues that affect us all. (San Francisco International Film Festival)