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In What’s the Matter With Kansas? Frank examines the state’s liberal past and conservative present and asks why working- and middle-class Americans have voted against their own economic best interests over the past several decades. A native of Hyde Park, Winston was familiar with Frank, who graduated from the University of Chicago, and in June 2004 he attended a panel discussion at the Harold Washington Library Center that included Frank, Studs Terkel, and Howard Dean. “Tom was the only one I had heard who had a coherent explanation for what went wrong,” Winston recalls.” I approached him and asked him about [movie] rights, and he just laughed.”
Although some people mentioned in the book also appear in the movie, Winston and Cohen had to find new subjects whose stories might unfold during the filming. Because Frank identifies social issues like abortion and gun control as the key to the Republicans’ success, Winston made overtures to conservative ministers who were politically active in the state. “We interviewed the first one who took our phone call,” says Cohen. “Pastor Terry Fox. At that time he was at Immanuel Baptist Church, a huge megachurch, just a real happening place.”
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Opens Fri 9/18, Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, 312-846-2800, $10. Winston, Cohen, and Frank will answer questions after the late screenings Fri-Sat 9/18-9/19.
