Plot

The struggle within a rural central Pennsylvanian community over the future of their public schools, where a vitriolic debate over books cloaks a more fundamental question: the future of America' secular democracy.

At board meetings in the run-up to the election, Democrats voice their fears that LifeGate is targeting the school board with a vision of white supremacist theocracy. (Their opponents focus less on denying this than on denigrating the left.) There's a notable disconnect between the politics infiltrating the board and what seems to be the generally progressive mindset of school employees: Teachers joke with their students that their curriculum-approved copies of "A Streetcar Named Desire" may be deemed dangerous, and attempt to hold open discussions in class about gun violence.—Variety magazine

Nestled in a valley among Lancaster County's rolling farmland, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania has all the charm of small town America. But behind this bucolic veneer lies a fracture in the making. Change has come to Etown. And nowhere is it more apparent than at the local school board meetings. Like schools across the nation, these once sleepy public meetings have become a toxic theater of grievance. After months of vitriolic debates over Covid-19 restrictions, budget priorities, and library books, four of the five long-serving Republican incumbents have chosen retirement over the prospect of further death threats, intimidation, and likely defeat at the polls. In this red district, a grassroots movement of far-right dominionist Christians have followed Steve Bannon's precinct playbook: seizing control of the local Republican committee and securing three school board seats in the last election. With five seats up this cycle, just two seats would secure the far-right's control over the board and usher in a new, theocratic vision for Etown's public schools. An American Pastoral chronicles the struggle of engaged citizens to determine the future of their local public schools. In 2023, voters will choose between three slates: one endorsed by the Democratic party and two competing Republican lists. In this off-year election, turnout will be low. In this divisive climate, voter education is more important than ever. After many months of campaigning, the choice is now up to voters. The mandate of those elected to the school board is four years: an eternity. At stake-and everyone here knows it-is the future of public education. At least to start with.

Elizabethtown is a picturesque little town in rural Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. But behind the supposed US-American small-town idyll lies a deep political divide, which is particularly evident at the meetings of the local school board. It all began with a dispute over a ban on books in school libraries. But in reality it is about something much more fundamental: the question of the continued existence of secular democracy. In the conservative district, the local movement of right-wing extremist Christians now holds three seats on the school board and is gradually pushing the moderate Republicans to the sidelines. Five seats are at stake in the 2023 elections. With just two more seats, the right-wing extremists would have a majority on the board and could push through a new, theocratic program for the public schools in Elizabethtown. The documentary shows the commitment of some courageous citizens to democratic, censorship-free education.