Filmmaker couple Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss first discovered the Girls and Boys State programs, in which teenagers form mock governments for a week, when boys in the Texas program voted to secede from the United States in 2017. “It was their gesture of rebellion and seemed typical of Trump’s election and the general state of the country,” says Moss. Because of this decision to secede Boys State was the first of two companion documentaries the couple made that focused on the teenagers in the program. The filmmakers always knew they wanted to focus on the girls’ side of things as well: “We’re parents of two teenage girls, so there was a very personal element to this film as well,” explains McBaine.

One topic that came up in both films was abortion. “The boys, you have to give them credit for it, felt uncomfortable talking about that topic,” McBaine recalls. “I thought at the time, ‘Wow, wouldn’t it be interesting to be in a room where only girls are talking, where there’s a conversation that only girls are having?’ And I was looking forward to that. Girls Statefor both reasons, personal and political.” Within Girls StateA Supreme Court is formed during the mock trial in court to hear an abortion case. The Missouri event marked the first time the Boys and Girls State events were held simultaneously alongside each other.

During the casting process, the pair spent four months interviewing hundreds of girls over Zoom: “We were able to be in their homes and learn a lot about the teenagers by looking at what posters they hung on the wall and how they decorated their rooms.” What kind of posters signaled to the filmmakers that they could target someone as a documentary subject? “We’re looking for kids who know who they are, and that’s not everyone at 17,” says McBaine. “We really needed kids who are passionate about government and about their cause.”

The film was made around the time of the historical Dobbs Decision that repealed abortion protection Roe v. Wade. Now, as the film hits theaters, presidential candidate Kamala Harris is loudly calling for those protections to be reinstated. Moss notes, “Seeing history intersect with the themes of our film in really surprising and exciting ways is why we make nonfiction, why we make films: to bring them into the culture and into the politics of the moment.”

This story first appeared in an August single issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine and subscribe, click here.