The Revisionaries

The documentary follows the sessions in which the Texas Board of Education decides what goes into school textbooks. The chairman of the board is a dentist who rejects the theory of evolution and wants the history lessons rewritten, and he is campaigning for re-election. Teachers, scientists and parents take the floor at the meetings, votes turn on a few words, and the decisions taken affect textbooks across much of the country. The film gives both sides in their own words and mocks nobody. The camera goes into the homes and the churches of the candidates as well as the meeting hall, so that it becomes visible who is arguing with whom. Scott Thurman’s ninety two minute American documentary was completed in 2012.