Trailer and cinema dates for “War Game” documentary on the uprising released

Courtesy of CPH:DOX

In the documentary “War Game” by Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber, the directing duo imagines what America’s next coup might look like.

The 94-minute documentary is set on January 6, 2025 – four years after the 2021 Capitol insurrection. Moss and Gerber record an elaborate simulation that dramatically escalates the threat of the recent insurrection, imagining a nationwide uprising in which members of the U.S. military defect to support the defeated presidential candidate while the winning candidate and his advisers play out the crisis in a makeshift White House situation center. The film follows a bipartisan group of U.S. defense, intelligence and elected officials from five presidential administrations as they participate in a six-hour, unscripted role-playing game designed to save democracy while America teeters on the brink of civil war.

The documentary, which premiered at Sundance 2024, hasn’t been picked up by any major streamers, which isn’t exactly surprising given streamers’ lack of interest in anything politics-related. Instead, Submarine Deluxe and Decal Releasing acquired War Game earlier this month; they will release the documentary on August 2 at the Film Forum in Manhattan, followed by a screening in Los Angeles and Chicago starting August 9.

Submarine is a hybrid sales, manufacturing and distribution company founded by brothers Dan and Josh Braun.

“Submarine’s theatrical release division, Submarine Deluxe, is thrilled to be bringing War Game to theaters. We believe the film is incredibly timely and has wide audience appeal, giving it the opportunity to work theatrically at a time when independent releases are struggling,” says Josh Braun. “It’s an important and thought-provoking film that everyone needs to see.”

In addition to “War Game,” Submarine Deluxe also released Oscar-nominated documentaries, including “All that Breathes,” “Chasing Ice,” and “Peggy Guggenheim Art Addict.”

Boat Rocker oversees international distribution of War Game.

Both Moss and Gerber want to present the film to both Democrats and Republicans in the US ahead of the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

“As divisions in our country deepen, we were pleased to find a place where a group of Americans – members of both major parties and the last five presidencies, as well as bipartisan veterans of the U.S. military – could gather to confront the most dangerous threat to American democracy,” Moss said.

In addition to the major cities of the USA, the film team plans to show the documentary in as many “red states” as possible.

“Our film is not about voting one way or the other,” Gerber says. “It’s about cutting through the noise and getting to some core principles that we can all hopefully agree on. The role players in our film come from each of the last five presidential administrations. Do the math. The cast in our fictional White House Situation Room couldn’t be more bipartisan.”

Most recently, War Game was shown in Washington, DC, at DC/DOX and at the Nantucket Film Festival.

Moss describes the trailer of the film, which is exclusive to diversityas a clip that “captures the thrilling intensity in real time as a president and his advisers try to avert civil war in an exercise that is part documentary, part improvisational theater and part dystopian science fiction.”

Check out the trailer below.