The Battle for Florida
In the year of the presidential elections in the US, journalist Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal and director Hans Pool sketch a portrait of the most activist generation since the 1970s: Generation Z. However, the freedom they demand collides with other freedoms, and nowhere does that collision occur as on the surface as in Florida, a state where 'freedom' is rotten in everyone's mouth.
Episodes
Since the 1960s, the small university New College has been considered a progressive oasis in Florida. But that will change in early 2023: conservative Governor DeSantis appoints a new board of trustees, led by a well-known anti-woke activist. The changes are not isolated. Education in Florida ('the state where woke will die', according to DeSantis) has become the scene of a fierce battle over gender neutrality and the content of textbooks, among other things. As the changes on campus become visible, international relations student Sam and drama teacher Diego wonder whether they still want to stay here.
Valentine's Day 2018. A gunman commits a massacre at his former high school in a Miami suburb. An influential youth movement emerged from the sadness and anger about this 'Parkland shooting', which claimed the lives of seventeen people: March For Our Lives. 25-year-old Maxwell Frost, one of the faces of the movement, becomes the first Gen Zer to be elected to the US Congress, where he continues his fight for stricter gun laws. Fathers Ryan and Manuel both lost a child in the shooting, but they radically disagree on its lessons.
Every year, many millions of Americans visit Disney World and the surrounding theme parks near Orlando. But in Disney's shadow, Gen Zers are struggling with their future. During the day Cree rides a roller coaster, in the evening he returns to the motel where he lives with his mother, brothers and sister. Community worker Jacob tries to help peers like Cree. Valeria left her native El Salvador for the United States, but is her ideal for the future - her own house, a good job - still feasible for her generation?
Since the Supreme Court struck down the federal right to abortion, the subject has returned as an election issue. Governor DeSantis of Florida wants to ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, and doctors who participate in an unauthorized procedure are at risk of prosecution. Anya and Derek Cook experienced the new policy firsthand and are now collecting signatures for a referendum to restore the right to abortion. The owner of Hamburger Mary's, a restaurant famous for its drag queen shows, also does not accept the governor's conservative agenda: he takes him to court.
