What begins as a few local parental rights groups resisting sex education erupts into a national firestorm – revealing deeply personal stories and a larger cultural reckoning. At stake is the critical question: “Do kids have a fundamental right to knowledge about their own bodies and sexuality?”
SYNOPSIS
When New Jersey schools unveil an updated sex education curriculum, including lessons for younger kids and LGBTQ+ inclusivity, the backlash is immediate.
As opposing parents and politicians band together to pressure the state to rescind the changes, three high school students - Louie, Mehr and Max - are caught up in the firestorm. They are on a mission to preserve what they believe is a fundamental right of young people - access to critical information on their bodies, gender identity and sexuality. Over the course of the next few years, NEXT GENERATION SEX follows the tenacity and bravery of these three teens: Louie, an aspiring educator who shares his own fears about coming out; Mehr, an outspoken senior working to stop sexual assault and harassment; and Max, a trans student who is unwantedly the focus of the parental rights extremists. Each must navigate discrimination, public vitriol, and their own personal journeys to protect their rights.
Alongside the teenagers, the film also tracks the fury of parental backlash to the new curriculum and opposition to discussions of sex or gender in schools at all. These “parental rights” groups take over school boards, troll educators by calling them “groomers” and pedophiles, and target student activists, while aiming to control what young people are allowed to learn about their own sexuality, bodies, and relationships.
As this battle explodes into a national firestorm, the film reveals the next generation’s fight to break beyond society’s fear and discomfort, to shape what they value in society.
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Co-Director/Producer/Cinematographer Julie Bridgham
Julie Bridgham is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and Sundance Documentary Fellow. She directed and produced The Sari Soldiers which garnered the Human Rights Watch Nestor Almendros Prize and screened in over 50 countries, and served as Executive Producer of Drawing the Tiger (Hot Docs) and produced for I Am Greta (Venice Film Festival, Hulu). She has directed and produced for BBC, CBS, Discovery Channel, TLC, and Hulu, and created films for Meta, WhatsApp, NowThis, and global NGOs. A former Documentary Feature Programmer for the Brooklyn Film Festival, she currently teaches Master Class in Documentary at NYU Tisch.
Co-Director/Producer Rebecca Haimowitz
Directed and Produced 62 DAYS, which premiered at the Meet The Press Film Festival with AFI and aired on PBS/World Channel’s Reel South. She is also the Co-Director/Producer of the award-winning feature MADE IN INDIA, that premiered at Hot Docs Film Festival, won Best Documentary at several festivals, and aired on PBS in 2012. She is an Assistant Arts Professor of Documentary Filmmaking at NYU Tisch.
Christi Cooper is a PhD scientist, documentary filmmaker, and Emmy Award–winning cinematographer whose work bridges science, storytelling, and social impact. Her most recent feature documentary, YOUTH v GOV, premiered at DOC NYC, won multiple festival awards, and is now streaming globally on Netflix and PBS+. Christi has raised and managed multimillion-dollar budgets, successfully securing support from major foundations, individual philanthropists, and impact-focused partners, and licensing her films to worldwide distributors. Christi has dedicated her career to creating powerful visual narratives that connect audiences to the most pressing issues of our time.
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