Venture capitalist and conservative activist Paul Martino credited President Donald Trump’s election win for a documentary featuring Martino’s family being screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
“Bucks County, USA” focuses on two 14-year-old girls, Evi and Vanessa, maintaining a friendship despite opposing political beliefs in a bellwether county of one of the seven swing states in 2022. The five-part docu-series asks if “we can learn that it’s possible to coexist and love one another despite our differing political views” and “discover the humanity in ‘the other side.’”
“Bucks County, USA” was also one of two docu-series to feature at Sundance, where it debuted the first two episodes on Tuesday.
Martino, Vanessa’s father, took part in the documentary as a conservative perspective based on his work founding the Back to School PA PAC to elect candidates in favor of keeping schools open during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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At the premiere in Utah, Martino expressed his surprise at the series being featured in general, suggesting Trump’s win had encouraged more political dialogue even in film.
“One of the things that is fascinating about ‘Bucks County, USA’ being chosen as an official selection is it really looks like, in the era of Trump being re-elected, Sundance has pivoted to the middle,” Martino said on X.
“All of the sudden, the discussions are about ‘wow, I need to listen to the other side.’ So it is satisfying to be here at Sundance, which is known to be so left-leaning, knowing that there is a new openness to dialogue.”
He continued, “I think the reason there’s an openness to dialogue is Trump won, and he won pretty big. And I think people are starting to realize, ‘this wasn’t a one-time little fluke when it came down to Hillary Clinton and the weirdness in 2016.’ This guy won the popular vote in 2024, and now I think people are like ‘Okay, maybe I shouldn’t just be in the resistance for four years. Maybe I should find out what the other person down the street from me is thinking.’”
In a clip sent to Fox News Digital, Martino addressed a theater audience at Sundance who criticized his beliefs after watching the series.
“Why can’t you be like your kids?” one audience member exclaimed.
Martino responded to the backlash by giving his perspective on what led him to activism.
“We were successful in the school policies around Covid, but you know what happened? The public sector’s unions decided to run ads about what an awful person I was, literally turning it into a personal battle,” Martino said. “I was literally ready to take my ball and go home, but they decided they were going to make me a villain and my family. So what should I have done? Should I have just gone home? Or should I have actually gone into the fight?”
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Members of the audience cheered at his response.
“You’ve clearly watched the movie then, seeing the humanity in the film is what this is about, given your response,” Martino added. “But what’s crazy to me is that you attacked me. That is the start of this.”
In another video posted on Martino’s X account on January 22, Martino discussed his involvement in the process after being told by the filmmakers that “nobody on the right has agreed to be in the documentary.”
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“[Robert May] did exactly what he promised me, that he would portray it as it happened. I didn’t want to be portrayed as good or bad. I just wanted the facts to be told. And when the facts are told, guess what? Us on the right look pretty damn rational. Our policies were the right ones. Our point of view was the right one, in particular around Covid policy,” Martino said.
