Described by director Kim S. Snyder as “a coming-of-age story about a bunch of regular teenage kids who live their lives against the backdrop of this horrendous national issue of gun violence,” “Us Kids” has secured distribution. Deadline reports that Greenwich Entertainment acquired North American rights to the Sundance doc about the March For Our Lives movement.
“Us Kids” begins with the 2018 Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and sees survivors of the tragedy banding together to address gun violence. “For these kids, whose friends and classmates died, it was a catalyst. The story is born out of trauma and rage, which simmers throughout, and it serves as a window into this generation and movement that is so different from, but also has so much in common with, the Vietnam era and the Civil Rights movement,” Snyder told us. “These kids have to grow up so quickly, and their willingness to give up everything to fight for those who were lost, and their tenacity, makes them able to build a remarkable and unprecedented movement — and create something real and lasting.”
“You have got to watch this film,” said former Marjorie Stoneman Douglas student and March For Our Lives organizer Emma Gonzalez in a statement. “It portrays us so honestly and tells our story in the way we have needed something to. It shows that this could be anyone’s story, both the trauma and the activism, and that we need to make this change.”
Snyder added, “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Greenwich to lift up these courageous young voices that continue to change the course of history — this three-year labor of love helped me to better understand the fury, gumption, and hope of Gen Z in this crazy world they are navigating.”
“Us Kids” is slated to hit theaters and digital platforms April 9.
Snyder previously tackled gun violence in “Newtown,” her Peabody Award-winning doc exploring the aftermath of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting.