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Synopsis

What happens when black working-class families are faced with an influx of white gay homebuyers in their neighborhood? Filmed over four years, Flag Wars is a clear-eyed look inside the conflicts that surface in one inner-city Columbus, Ohio, community. The film’s as-it-is-happening verité style captures the raw emotions of unguarded moments between neighbors: the lesbian realtor who sells the area’s Victorian homes; a new homebuyer whose move to the area is his chance to live openly as a gay man; two longtime residents who are in court because of new housing codes; and the judge who hears their cases. From porch conversations and family dinners to public hearings and street protests, Flag Wars provides a rare and extraordinarily intimate account of the social and human consequences of capitalism and the pursuit of the “American Dream” told through the lives of residents in a community confronted by gentrification.