You've Been Trumped

You've Been Trumped is a 2011 documentary by British filmmaker Anthony W. J. Baxter. The film documents the construction of a luxury golf course on a beach in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by developer Donald Trump and the subsequent struggles between the locals, Donald Trump, and Scottish legal and governmental authorities.

You've Been Trumped
Film poster
Directed byAnthony Baxter
Produced byRichard Phinney
Starring
Release date
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office£18,191[1]

When it was announced that the documentary was to be given its British television premiere on BBC Two on 21 October 2012, Trump's lawyers contacted the corporation to demand that the film should not be shown, claiming that it is "defamatory" and "misleading". The screening went ahead. The BBC defended its decision, noting that Trump had repeatedly refused to be interviewed in conjunction with the film.[2]

In October 2016, Baxter announced the release of You've Been Trumped Too, a sequel to the film timed for release before the 2016 United States presidential election.[3] The film focussed on the problems experienced by neighbours of the Trump International Golf Links, including a 92-year-old woman who claimed that she was forced to collect water from a nearby stream in a bucket after construction workers had cut off her supply.[4] In response to the film, lawyers representing Trump International threatened legal action against anybody who screened the film.[4][5]

Reception
Director Anthony Baxter during a Q&A at the 2012 Miami International Film Festival premiere of the film

ReelScotland reviewed the film, concluding "an emotive film which shows both what can happen when a Government considers money over its own laws and how those at the sharp end remain resilient throughout".[6] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, writing that the most fascinating aspect of the documentary is "Trump’s almost joyous rudeness" and that "the underlying message is that if you are rich and powerful enough, you can run roughshod over tradition and private property rights and buy your place at the table."[7] Stephen Holden wrote in the New York Times that the documentary is an "unabashedly hostile portrait" of Trump, depicting him as "an insensitive, lying bully" who tried to pressure the golf course's neighbors into sell their properties to him, including threatening them with compulsory purchase orders.[8]

Bill Forsyth, the director of Local Hero (from which the film used footage), reacted to the film positively. Forsyth saw the film at the Shetland Film Festival.[9]

The documentary and its director won several awards:

  • The Sheffield Green Award at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival, Sheffield, England, in 2011[10]
  • The Audience Award at the Dakino - Bucharest International Film Festival, Romania, in 2011[11]
  • The Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary Film at the Denver Film Festival, Denver, Colorado, USA, in 2011[12][13]
  • The Victor Rabinowitz and Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice at the Hamptons International Film Festival, East Hampton, NY, USA, in 2011[14][15]
  • The Directors’ Choice Award for Best Environmental Film at the Sedona International Film Festival, Sedona, Arizona, USA, in 2012[16][11]

A Dangerous Game (2014)
Main article: A Dangerous Game (2014 film)

A follow-up documentary called A Dangerous Game was released in September 2014. The film continues the story of the locals' struggle against Donald Trump but goes further afield also. It documents Trump's plans to build a luxury golf course in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on Mount Srđ overlooking Dubrovnik,[17] against which local residents campaign. The residents win a referendum on the matter but this is ignored by officials.

See also

References
  1. "You've Been Trumped (2012) - Box Office Mojo".
  2. Carrell, Severin (22 October 2012). "Donald Trump lawyers tried to stop BBC showing Scottish bullying film". quardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  3. "Filmmaker Anthony Baxter takes on Donald Trump again". BBC. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  4. Baxter, Anthony (16 July 2020). "Donald Trump has battled to block my film's release for years. Now he has failed". The Guardian.
  5. Miller, Phil (31 October 2016). "Donald Trump threatens to sue anyone showing new golf documentary by Scots filmmaker". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  6. Jonathan Melville (17 October 2012). "Film Review: You've Been Trumped". Reel Scotland. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  7. Roger Ebert (17 October 2012). "You've Been Trumped Movie Review (2012)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  8. Holden, Stephen (1 August 2012). "The Billionaire Versus the Little Guy". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  9. Forsyth, Bill. "Local Hero and Donald Trump: a malign mix of bullying, muscle flexing and craven politicians". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  10. "Sheffield Doc/Fest Award Winners". Sheffield DocFest. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  11. "Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  12. "Denver International Film Festival 2011 Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  13. McDonald, Kathy (2004). "Things To Do in Denver When You're Doc-Crazy: Starz Denver International Film Festival". International Documentary Association. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  14. "Hamptons International Film Festival 2011 Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  15. "And The Winners Are…2011 Hamptons International Film Festival Edition". The Tracking Board. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  16. "We are proud to recognize our past festival award winners!". Sedona International Film Festival. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  17. "Dangerous game Observer Review". The Observer. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
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