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The Revisionaries

2012 film

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ7760536
Source-derived summary

The Revisionaries is a 2012 documentary film about the re-election of Don McLeroy, the former chairman of the Texas Board of Education. The film also details how the Texas Board's decisions on textbook content influence textbooks across the nation and affect the American culture war. The Revisionaries was directed by Scott Thurman and produced by Silver Lining Films, Magic Hour Productions, and Naked Edge Films.

The film generated a great deal of buzz prior to its premiere on April 20, 2012 at the Tribeca Film Festival. Texas Monthly reported that "[t]he film received rave reviews after its Tribeca premiere." The Revisionaries went on to win the Festival's Special Jury Prize. During the awards presentation, Michael Moore stated "I hope every American sees this film", and called The Revisionaries "a must-see film for anyone concerned about enforced ignorance and intolerance, and for those who still believe in science and in Thomas Jefferson."

On July 18, 2012, Kino Lorber acquired all North American rights to The Revisionaries. The film premiered theatrically on October 5, 2012 in Dallas, Texas, and the Public Broadcasting Service's (PBS) Independent Lens aired an abridged version of the film in late January 2013. The Revisionaries went on to win the 2013 PBS Independent Lens Audience Award and the 2014 duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Revisionaries” as 2012 film. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2012, 2013, 2014—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2012-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Revisionaries and film can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2012 film. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7760536. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Revisionaries”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Revisionaries primary sources, The Revisionaries archive and Revisionaries research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Revisionaries”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from The Revisionaries” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.