Ellie Park, Multimedia Managing Editor

What if you had six hours to save democracy? Tony Gerber poses this question through his 2024 documentary, “War Game,” about an elaborate simulation of a hypothetical coup after a disputed election.

The film follows a bipartisan group of political power players from different presidential administrations — former U.S. senators, political consultants and retired military leaders, including Lou Caldera, who served as Secretary of the Army during the Clinton Administration — participating in an unscripted role-play exercise. Together, they portray a fictional President of the United States and their advisors, as they confront a political coup staged by U.S. military members who reject the results of the 2024 presidential election. 

Last Thursday, Gerber came to Yale to discuss his film in a conversation with Asha Rangappa, senior lecturer at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affair and Marc Francis, the Yale Manager of Film Programming.

“Only by simulating it and understanding all of these unknowns that could come up are you able to respond,” Rangappa said.

While the tabletop exercise was constructed and planned by game designers, co-directors Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber were responsible for infusing it with dramatic elements. During the Q&A, Gerber said that he and Moss had previously worked on “Full Battle Rattle,” a similarly filmed war game staged in the Mojave Desert, which gave him background on creating “War Game.” 

The unique structure of a game-based documentary, in which no participant is a trained actor, blurs the edges of fiction and documentary which allows for a sense of authenticity, said Gerber. The film is devoid of scripted dialogue or staged scenes. 

“[I understand] how the fake can somehow transcend its limitations, its plastic nature, and become even more moving, in a process the Greeks called catharsis, which is what ultimately this is about,” said Gerber. 

The directors played no role in casting, and no one received former acting training or coaching on set. Instead, participants moved according to the constraints of their assigned role and its real-world authority. 

When discussing the scope of each character’s role, Gerber compared an awareness of their limitations to a game of chess. Just as the knight and bishop move in a certain way, there are limited strategies that each player can take based on their role. Because everyone knew their role and the limits of their authority, this led to the “perfect setup” for an improv.  

War Game goes beyond the traditional boundaries of documentary filmmaking, not just through its physical format but through its merging of cinema and policy in a way that engages viewers. Gerber described documentaries as a “truly interactive” medium, explaining that the world’s changing political landscape continually reshapes the audience’s experience of the film.

“If the pleasure or thrill of the political thriller is to be had at historical or geographical remove or via the comforts of being able to say something like, well, ‘That will never happen in your life,’ this pleasure has been evacuated from War Game,” said Marc Francis.“What develops instead is too immediate and ultimately too plausible.” 

 Gerber and Moss shot this film on Jan. 6, 2023, two years after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Though the world has changed since then, this film meets audiences where they are politically and emotionally during this current election season. 

According to Gerber and Moss, this film’s relevance goes beyond the upcoming election. It asks the question of how we have gotten so proximate to the idea of insurrection, and poses the question: can a bipartisan group of reasoned leaders de-escalate an increasingly violent situation? Can reason prevail?

‘War Game’ has already premiered in select theaters around the country. Now, as the nation heads into election season, Gerber said that he is aiming to show this film on university screens in purple and red states. 

 The documentary screening and Q&A session took place in Humanities Quadrangle L02, 320 York St., New Haven, CT 06511.