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Over the last several years, tensions have been on the rise throughout the country, with people of differing opinions battling on social media—and sometimes in the streets. The documentary Garden City, Kansas offers a look at one melting pot of a town that faced its own threat of violence and the man who decided to stop it.
Garden City, Kansas travels to a small rural town in Middle America, where immigrants and refugees from all over the world have found a home. It may be conservative farming town, but it’s also a town where more than 30 languages are spoken in the high school. But when tensions began to rise in the government, tensions began to rise in the community, too. And when Dan Day was invited to meet with a group of men who were planning violence against Muslims, he found himself working with the FBI to stop them.
As the story of Dan Day’s experiences with a group calling themselves the Kansas Security Force plays out—mostly through animated recreations of court recordings—the film tends to focus more on the town of Garden City and its people. It introduces a number of the town’s immigrant residents, and it follows one man’s story as he works to gain citizenship.
Though it’s clear that not everyone in Garden City is eager to welcome people of different cultures and religions—and others are quite hesitant—many of the town’s residents are putting a real effort into trying to give help and support to their neighbors. Admittedly, the relationships here don’t appear to be especially equal, but it’s encouraging to see the people who have obviously grown up in a primarily white, rural community reaching out to people who are not at all like them. They meet together in their own kind of small-town United Nations to share information about after school programs and other opportunities. And when news of the KSF’s violent plot comes out, they band together in support.
Garden City may not be the perfect example of a truly open international community—and the story of the white nationalist plot lacks tension. But the film does show a multicultural community and a well-intentioned openness that’s not as expected—especially for this part of the country.
While it may not be the tense story that it seems to promise—and it doesn’t necessarily offer the profile of a strong, united community—Garden City, Kansas is an eye-opening film about a town that’s working to get beyond their differences to work together through difficult times.
Garden City, Kansas arrives on demand starting on October 10, 2023.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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