Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
Tonight, we bring you a film that one reviewer calls,
"a wonderful portrait of a brilliant artist"
in the documentary "Feels Good Man."
Imagine you create a beloved cartoon character,
an innocuous anthropomorphic frog
that becomes an immensely popular,
a meme showing up on sites like MySpace
during a more innocent time on the Internet.
This frog, affectionately named Pepe,
puts you on the map as an artist.
But just a few years later your creation is hijacked
by the alt-right and white supremacist groups.
It becomes a symbol of hate to the point
that this lovable character becomes synonymous
with everything you stand against
and is tabbed a symbol of hate by the Anti-Defamation League.
Such was the case for artist Matt Furie,
a self-proclaimed pacifist and the artist who created Pepe.
Director Arthur Jones met Furie while hiking in California
and they became fast friends.
Jones, along with producer Giorgio Angelini, collaborated
on the film, with Angelini doing some cinematography
and Jones doing most of the animation.
Jones says he might never have made a film,
but became inspired as he watched Furie
try to take back ownership of Pepe.
He and Angelini felt compelled to chronicle the journey
of this cool chill frog being rescued
from racist groups and Internet trolls
and returned to its rightful owner.
"Feels Good Man" starts now starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.