What begins as activism quickly quickly escalates as three conservatives join a widening conflict over identity, power, and the future of politics in the United States of America.

Homegrown brings raw intimacy and unprecedented access to a political moment still unfolding. The documentary reveals the lived experiences of people whose determination to turn their beliefs into action places them on the front lines of the USA’s political divide.

Setting the Scene

Homegrown debuted to international acclaim at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where it won Best Technical Contribution. It has since garnered top honours on the global festival circuit, including the 2025 Cinema Eye Honors Spotlight Award, recognizing exceptional independent nonfiction filmmaking.

Directed by Michael Premo, the film follows three conservative activists: newly politicized father-to-be in New Jersey, an Air Force veteran organizing conservatives in New York City, and an activist from Texas, travelling the country in the summer of 2020 campaigning for Donald Trump. When they become convinced that the election is stolen, they take their fight to the streets. The result is a chilling portrait of the growing unrest pushing American democracy to the brink.

Bearing Witness to a Fractured Country

Premo describes Homegrown as “a unique portrait of an American social movement that has demonstrated it is willing to use violence to fight for what they believe America should be. This movement self-identifies as the Patriot Movement.” This movement began in the 1980s, however, is is now mostly characterized as an electoral phenomenon unique to Donald Trump in the use of the term MAGA (Make America Great Again). The mass-movement includes people across lines of culture and race, class, geography, and other demographics, that precede Donald Trump. In other words, this is movement will not disappear.

Rachel Falcone, producer and crew member states, “This film is not just about a single day. It’s about the forces that led us there, the people who felt called to act, and the unresolved tensions that will define who we are as a country.”

Interview with Director Michael Premo

Michael Premo is an award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and artist. His work spans film, radio, theatre, installation and photography. Here he shares more details about his personal experience making this film.

Hye’s Final Thoughts

I appreciate the journalistic work behind Homegrown. I also appreciate its cinéma vérité approach, and the intimate access to people who became eager perpetrators of contemporary political violence. The film actually captured unprecedented events as they unfolded on the ground in Capitol Hill. The energy is palpable through the screen even if it is presented through a camera. By doing this, we get to witness how democracy can easily crumble in public, familiar spaces by regular citizens looking for meaning in an unstable world.

The North American release marks the debut of a newly updated version of the film, shaped by the additional year of reporting and follow-up filming; most notably the story of the film’s central protagonist, who served more than four years in prison for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Earlier this year he was pardoned by President Trump, prompting the filmmakers to document how the pardon reshaped his life.

This updated version of the film shows the attack on the Capitol as the moment that redirects the personal and political trajectories of those at the centre of the story. The expanded footage from 2025 gives us an even closer look at one of the film’s central protagonists, who served more than four years in prison for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. He was pardoned by President Trump in 2025.

Homegrown offers a rare, ground-level view of a political movement in real time. It offers a critical yet powerfully personal view of the various forces reshaping USA conservatism, political identity, and the meaning of democracy itself.

The film is now available to screen online via homegrown.film with a wider release coming later in 2026.