In November 2016, an unprecedented election cycle had exposed a seismic cultural rift, and to many, the United States suddenly felt like a much different place. For underground cartoonist Matt Furie, that sensation was even more surreal. Throughout the course of the election, his comic creation Pepe the Frog, conceived more than a decade earlier as a laid-back humanoid amphibian, had unwittingly become a grotesque political pawn, venerated amongst domestic terrorists and racist organizations. This documentary feature explores an unexpected cultural rift, offering a vivid, moving portrait of an artist battling to regain control of his vandalized creation set in the very strange reality we’ve all found ourselves living in. Discussion with director Arthur Jones and producer Giorgio Angelini, moderated by Siva Vaidhyanathan (UVA) to follow.

Supported by UVA Deliberative Media Lab