The director of an acclaimed documentary about Donald Trump’s controversial construction of a Scottish golf course, being shown tonight in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention, has revealed he is shooting a sequel that will be released before the 2016 US Presidential election.
Anthony Baxter’s 2011 film You’ve Been Trumped chronicled clashes between the Republican presidential nominee, local residents and Scottish government authorities over the construction of the $1.5 million Trump International Golf Course in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire.
See ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ 7:10pm tonight followed by Q&A w its filmmaker Anthony Baxter & its star Michael Forbes! pic.twitter.com/dpN1JSVjrt
— Capitol Theatre (@CapitolW65th) July 20, 2016
Trump promised the golf course would be “the greatest golf course anywhere in the world” and would create 6,000 jobs but the project generated fewer than 200 jobs, devastated the coastline and left local residents- including a 90-year-old woman- without water supply for several years.
Baxter, a British filmmaker, has been shooting a sequel to You’ve Been Trumped in the US and Scotland. The movie will further chronicle Trump’s golfing business activities which were highlighted last month when he temporarily took leave from his Presidential campaign to re-open his Trump Turnberry golf course.
Baxter is in Cleveland during the convention to present a screening of You’ve Been Trumped at the city’s Capitol Theatre tonight together with Michael Forbes, the Scottish farmer who was voted Scotsman of the Year for standing up to Trump and who features in the film.
Despite Trump threatening legal action, You’ve Been Trumped has received regular theatrical and cable TV screenings in recent years as Trump’s celebrity has increased further.
Baxter told Heat Street: “For much of the year, I’ve been filming the sequel under the radar. We are also filming [the sequel] in Cleveland so that will show a reflection of what is happening here.”
He added: “The Scottish story is very important one for people to take note of- there are lots of parallels that can be drawn relating to Trump.
“What happened in Scotland is a microcosm of what could happen elsewhere if Trump was to be elected President. He came into this race saying he would be the ‘Jobs President’. In Scotland, he promised six thousand jobs but only a few dozen have been created. Is that what could be expected here?
“Trump also said that he was going to do something which was environmentally perfect but he hasn’t done something environmentally perfect- a very important sand dune system and important stretch of coastline has been lost. He said he would be a really good neighbor [in Scotland]- well the residents don’t feel that way.
“During the campaign there has been a lot of name-calling going on from the Trump camp and in Scotland there was experience of that too- Michael Forbes was branded a pig by Donald Trump and his farm a slum.”
Trump called out Baxter on his documentary, telling him via Twitter: “Your documentary has died many deaths. You have, in my opinion, zero talent.”
But Trump subsequently agreed to be interviewed by Baxter for his follow-up documentary A Dangerous Game telling the filmmaker on camera: “Your documentary got carried by BBC and others so you’ve become a much more important person, in terms of doing an interview.”
Baxter said of his relationship with Trump: “When you’ve been filming a story for a long period of time, you have a certain kind of insight in the same way that residents in Scotland have a huge insight into the dealings of the Trump organization.
“I’ve been following the story for many years and I think it’s important the background isn’t forgotten and that people are held to account for the promises they made.
“It’s important to remember what a massive story Donald Trump coming to Scotland was and how he was embraced by the local media and he hasn’t been held to account for the promises that were made and the Scottish government has a hand in that.”
In Cleveland Ohio w #Trump arch nemesis Michael Forbes for @TrumpedMovie Q&A screening https://t.co/HeFYDWXuzu pic.twitter.com/IOakO0mhyI
— Anthony Baxter (@antbaxter) July 19, 2016
He said of Trump’s unlikely political elevation: “I’m not really surprised because this [his political career] is a much bigger canvas of what we saw unfolding in Scotland which was on a much smaller scale.”
Baxter said of distribution plans for the sequel: “We want to get it out to as many people as we can in the UK and America- we’d like to release it in cinemas and get it broadcast on television and on Netflix to get it out to a wide audience.
“It’s important we release it before the election so it can be part of the debate.”
