"The Great Divide" explores Colorado's place in the history of violence

• The political battle at the Colorado statehouse over a red flag law in 2019 is a throughline of the 90-minute documentary with the filmmakers embedded in opposing camps for the debate.
• "We knew [Colorado] was a microcosm of the country as a whole," producer Ilan Arboleda tells John, as well as "ground zero for mass shootings in America."

Zoom in: Arboleda and director Tom Donahue, veterans of social impact films, say their newest venture is meant to be a call to action for laws like the one in Colorado even as it acknowledges the policy is "a Band-Aid."

• The broader message is deeper — based on the root causes and history of our nation's violent past, they say.

The bottom line: "It's not just about [the need for] healing," Donahue adds. "If you're ignorant of your history, you're condemned to repeat it."