It is strange that a documentary about a public speech at a small college in Utah should be a near-perfect film about culture, politics and the heights of absurdity. In 24 the student government of Utah Valley State College invited the filmmaker Michael Moore to speak to students in the run-up to the American presidential election. Steven Greenstreet, producer and director, smelled a story and rushed to the campus with his camera to capture the several weeks of madness that followed. The result is This Divided State, a fantastic film about extremism and free speech, and a microcosm of American culture. Many of the Mormon students support Moore’s right to speak, citing the history of religious oppression and discussing what they’ve learned about open dialogue from their missionary work. Others prefer to live in a Utah vacuum, where a popular chain rents versions of Hollywood films from which swearing, violence, sex and dissenting opinions have been excised. A local real-estate millionaire offered to buy back every ticket to the event and then sued the student government officers when his offer was rejected. This Divided State is not just an important political film; it is also a gripping story about individual lives and the possibility of keeping an open mind.