Diversity, equity and inclusion workshops might not seem a natural backdrop for a documentary. But using a satirical spin, Matt Walsh and Justin Folk mined the territory for their feature “Am I Racist?” Exhibitors are typically reluctant to program documentaries, never mind hot-button ones, but they quickly came around. In the process, the film became the highest-grossing doc since 2018.
“I think we approached [the film] in a way that was entertaining and funny,” Walsh said during a Variety-hosted panel for the film on Dec. 3. “I think that drove a lot of interest into this film. And so when the exhibitors took a chance on us, I think it paid off. And part of that was the fact that we were willing to wade into these waters. We were willing to talk about a subject that’s very controversial and do so in a very just, I guess, not expected way.
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The conversation, which also included Walsh and was moderated by Variety‘s executive editor film & media Tatiana Siegel, was part of the FYC Streaming Room, presented by The Daily Wire.
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“They were skeptical that documentaries can actually attract a real audience to the theater, but we had to kind of prove our case,” Walsh added.
The $3 million film, which was distributed by Daily Wire, sees Walsh go undercover in various guises including a waiter at a dinner attended by wealthy white Los Angeles women looking to heal from their racism. The popular conservative podcaster addressed why some of the film’s on-camera subjects decided to participate.
“I think that maybe they had some dollar signs in their eyes and were willing to overlook things that otherwise they would’ve considered to be red flags,” Walsh said. “[‘White Fragility’ author] Robin DeAngelo, just as one example, … right before the movie came out, she put out a statement addressing her involvement in it and denounced the film and all that sort of stuff. But she claimed that when she sat down for the interview that she could tell that the interviewer was wearing an ‘ill-fitting wig.’ Her words. Now, I don’t think the wig was ill-fitting, just for the record. I think it was pretty nice wig. But it is interesting that if she did notice that as she claims, then like, ‘Well, I didn’t ask any questions about that.'”
There has been some speculation that the “Am I Racist?” team is submitting the film for awards consideration as a troll. On that point, Walsh set the record straight.
“It’s not a troll at all,” Walsh added. “We’re submitting it for awards consideration because we happen to believe that it’s worthy of that consideration. … Just because a movie has a high [box office] in comparison to other movies in a genre, that alone doesn’t mean that it deserves to win awards. But I think that alone means that you should at least think about it.”
