Alexis Bittar has been thinking about the American flag. On Thursday, the designer had two theaters full of people at downtown movie theater Metrograph thinking about it, too, with the release of his thirty minute documentary “Reclaim the Flag.”
“ I had been mulling this idea over and been obsessed with the American flag, and really had noticed for the last 10 years how it slowly was co-opted by the right,” said Bittar, who directed the film, ahead of the film’s evening screening.
“When Trump got reelected, or up to the reelection, I just became more and more aware of how the American flag was used as a symbol of aggression,” he added. “Being a gay man with three children and a husband, to me the messaging was, ‘we’re coming for you.’ It wasn’t used as a symbol of unity.”
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As Trump began his second presidency, Bittar decided to channel his despair into making a documentary that explored the resonance of the American flag through the LGBTQIA+ lens.
“The history of America has been very complicated for many Americans, and the history of the American flag has therefore been very complicated for many Americans,” added Bittar. “So there’s a lot of different layers to unpack about what has the flag meant, what does it mean now, and what do we want it to be in the future?”
Bittar was connected with Oscar-winning producer Bruce Cohen, whose films include “American Beauty,” “Milk” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” through Jason Weinberg. Cohen had also been thinking about the American flag, and how it signaled support for Trump. In the lead-up to the last U.S. presidential election, Cohen, who lives upstate New York in Columbia County with his husband and daughter, decided to hang a 20 by 10 foot banner on the side of their barn.
“Even though we knew that most people would just assume that we were also Trump supporters, we felt, no, it’s our flag and we should be able to put it up,” he said. “And so when [Bittar] called and started telling me that he’d been thinking about this and wanted to make the documentary, I really got chills and immediately just said, you had me at ‘reclaim the flag,’ because we’re actually in the midst of this exact issue.”
The documentary, which is streaming on YouTube, features more than 50 LGBTQIA+ thought leaders, including Lena Waithe, Jim Parsons, Marc Jacobs, Bill T. Jones, Darren Walker, King Princess, Brandon Flynn, Gottmik, George Takei, Isaac Mizrahi, Gus Kenworthy, Jenna Lyons and more.
“ The LGBTQ+ community is this huge tapestry of all ages, all races, all sexual identities, all gender identities, all backgrounds,” Cohen said. “And we wanted to try and represent that tapestry as best we could.”
Guests at Thursday evening’s film launch included executive producer Mickalene Thomas, Dominique Jackson, J. Harrison Ghee, Prabal Gurung, Ann Dexter Jones, Steve Madden, Fern Mallis, Peppermint and more. After the screening, Jonathan Capeheart moderated a panel discussion and audience Q&A with Bittar, Cohen and documentary participants Ali Bird and Julie J. An earlier screening featured a conversation with actress Tommy Dorfman.
“ Every American has an answer to those personal questions for themselves: ‘How do you feel about the flag? How do you feel about being American?’” Cohen said. “And it’s a question that they may not have thought of yesterday or in a long time. But early indications are, watching the film is gonna make you think about that, no matter who you are.”
You can watch the full documentary, streaming on YouTube, below:
