09/15/2023
***Join us Thursday, September 28, for a viewing of "Garden City, Kansas" created by filmmaker & professor Bob Hurst and his Kansas colleague Randal Jelks, a former Calvin professor. This will be presented by Fountain Street Church, at the Wealthy Theatre, followed by a discussion time with the filmmaker and
Jelks.
Doors open at 6 pm, the film starts at 7 pm and tickets are $5 and available via the theatre’s website:
https://grcmc.org/em/garden-city-kansas***
Former GVSU and Calvin Professors Bringing Film About Hope and Horror to Grand Rapids
“Garden City, Kansas” is a film about what could have been a horror, a plot to kill Somalian refugees that
was foiled by an insider turned FBI informant.
But more so, it’s a film about hope and the ways small towns are not just enriched by but depend on
immigrants and refugees.
Ultimately, said filmmaker Bob Hurst, “Garden City, Kansas” could be called “a love letter to the version
of America we strive for.”
Hurst is a former Grand Valley professor, now at the University of Kansas. Hurst said he first heard about the Garden City terrorism plot via media coverage in late 2016. He was then introduced to people in the small town by those who knew the area, including Don Stull, a retired anthropologist at Kansas, and film producer Tess Banion, who had contacts from another film project about Somali immigrants in Kansas.
From 2017-2020, Hurst and his team did about 100 hours of interviews and then spent almost a year shaping the film into its final 78-minute run time. As it unfolds the film has two distinct threads—the Garden City story about the town, its history, the
people and the refugee/immigrant population and then the militia story—that Hurst pulls together into one tapestry.
“Initially, we did not set out to tell the story of the conspiracy,” Hurst said. “We were interested in discovering this small Kansas town that turns assumptions about rural America upside-down. But
eventually, we realized that the militia story was another element that doesn’t square with perceptions of small-town America: that scattered across this country are cells of dangerous, vitriolic people who want to target and destroy those who don’t look and worship like them.”
Hurst and his team decided to create a contrast between the bubble of the conspirators’ world and the hard work people in Garden City have done to make their home there. “The competing stories aim to dramatize what’s at stake for the community,” he said. The militia side of the story was chilling, Hurst added.
“We weren’t able to get our hands on the transcripts of the wiretaps, but the court testimony and the recordings entered into the record were chilling enough,” he said. “The actual planning of the bombing is scary stuff, but there’s a lot more to the story. Having convinced themselves that immigrants were involved in some kind of illegal activity, these men and other militia members were actively following and surveilling immigrant families all over Garden City. It makes you realize that, in an environment
where people are encouraged to feed on anger and outrage and to see threats all around them, at some point, somewhere, someone is going to act violently.”
Jelks met Hurst when he left Calvin to begin teaching at the University of Kansas. They bonded over a love of film, and Jelks said, “Garden City, Kansas” became “a friends’ journey.” He added: “We all metaphorically speaking took the ride to Garden City as Bob shaped this important film about American immigrants and refugees in Kansas.”
Jelks said Grand Rapids was the perfect place for “Garden City, Kansas” to have its Michigan premiere. “I want to pull all of us together as we deal with the questions of immigrations and refugees—political leaders, immigrant advocates, religious leaders, business leaders—to discuss these issues,” he said. “Grand Rapids is a microcosm of Garden City. In Grand Rapids we have a long history of dealing with, if not always accepting, refugees and immigrants. Because we are surrounded by people from all over the
world l thought this would be perfect opportunity to view this film and discuss the issues that impact our city.”
See https://gardencityfilm.com/ for the official trailer, scenes from the film and more.
For more on Bob Hurst, see https://film.ku.edu/people/robert-hurst
For more on Randal Jelks, see https://americanstudies.ku.edu/people/randal-jelks
Randal Maurice Jelks Professor Contact Info [email protected] Office Phone: 785-864-9476 213 Bailey HallLawrence1440 Jayhawk Blvd.Lawrence, KS 66045 Personal Links Jelks CV.pdf Jelks CV.pdf Biography — Randal Maurice Jelks is Professor of African and African American Studies and American Studies. ...
