‘Us Kids’: Parkland Survivor David Hogg Says Government Works for Us, Not the Other Way Around

In “Us Kids,” documentary filmmaker Kim A. Snyder chronicles a new generation of political rock stars left pissed-off and enraged after surviving the 2018 shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The film just recently made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where many of the film’s subjects were also in attendance at the IndieWire Studio, presented by Dropbox, to discuss their activism work.

“I really look forward to young people putting in the work and making sure we make our voices heard because, to be frank with you, our generation is fucked,” David Hogg said. “If we don’t turn out to vote, our planet will die, our generation will continue to experience gun violence on a daily basis. We could be one of the last generations if we don’t go out there and vote in this election.”

Hogg is one of the survivors of the shooting and part of the #NeverAgain coalition that formed after the tragedy. Regarding the current administration’s attitude toward pervasive gun violence in America, Hogg said the solution is to get young people to vote.

“I would like to see candidates focus on endorsing young people, because they work for us. I would like to see the American people remember, Congressmen and women work for us. We don’t work for them. We are their goddamn boss, and they are not doing their goddamn job. We need to vote them the hell out, or else we will face the consequences,” Hogg said.

“David has got the wiring of a young revolutionary, the big thinker, so intellectually gifted,” Snyder told IndieWire of Hogg during a recent interview about “Us Kids.” Of her film, Snyder said, “I don’t see it as a Parkland movie. […] I see it as a movie catalyzed by that horrific shooting, it sparked a movement that is sustainable, I think. They have over 300 chapters and are so intent on inclusion. Right away, they said, ‘This isn’t fair. Mass shootings are less than 2 percent of gun deaths; our counterparts in inner cities across the country don’t get the attention.'”

(Read IndieWire’s review of “Us Kids” here.) The IndieWire Studio at the Sundance Film Festival is open through Monday, January 27.