'By the People' Premieres Tonight on HBO

Date: Tuesday, November 03, 2009, 6:17 am
By: David Bauder, AP Television Writer


NEW YORK (AP) — Pivotal presidential campaigns are frequently defined in retrospect by documentaries.

"The War Room" chronicled Bill Clinton's political operation in 1992, adding a phrase to the political lexicon in the process. Alexandra Pelosi's "Journeys With George" captured the oddities of a national campaign on board George W. Bush's airplane in 2000.

The makers of "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama," which premieres Tuesday — Election Night — on HBO, wouldn't mind the same status.

"That was our hope — that we would create something for history," said filmmaker Alicia Sams, who made the documentary with colleague Amy Rice and a key assist from actor Edward Norton.

Rice was inspired by Obama's speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2004 and wanted to do a film about him as an up-and-coming political leader. Her friend Sams signed on, but they couldn't get their phone calls to Obama's office returned until Norton called on their behalf. He's still involved as a producer.

They got lucky. They wound up with a far more important story than they had dreamed about.

Even though they began filming nearly a year before Obama announced his candidacy in February 2007, being on the ground early didn't guarantee them anything. They were nearly shut down when the campaign began.

Obama aides like David Axelrod didn't want Rice and Sams around. He worried about leaks and whether the presence of cameras would cause people to act like they were in a reality show — concerns that proved amusing in retrospect. Access was a constant concern.

Iowa became their centerpiece. They stuck close to Obama through his early campaigning there, catching moments like a 9-year-old boy making phone calls to drum up support. After three hours of shaking hands, a weary Obama says, "It's like I've been through a wrestling match."

Through the crowds and contact, the filmmakers sense Obama catching on as he moved toward an impressive victory in the Iowa caucuses. The film introduces audiences to the people around Obama, not just top aides like Axelrod and David Plouffe, but the enthusiastic Ronnie Cho, Obama's Polk County organizer. Their discipline and meticulous planning were evident. It was the birthplace of a movement, and whether Obama eventually won or lost the presidency, Rice and Sams felt Iowa gave them a film.

"It was part of the story nobody knew," Rice said. "When he won Iowa, people started to pay attention."

Norton said the campaign's emotional restraint impressed him.

Obama is shown riding in an elevator after having just clinched the Democratic nomination and a film crew member remarks, "You must be feeling pretty good." The basketball-loving candidate just says, "You don't cut down the nets for the conference championship."

"He just seemed so unflappable and what you wondered was, 'I wonder if behind the doors it's like the war room, you know, everybody's cussing at each other and they're furious," Norton said. "When you got around behind the private spaces with them, it was the same."

Obama saw a rough cut of the film and sent back word that he cried upon seeing the emotional reactions of his staff members to his election.

Cried? Sams doesn't quite believe that.

That's what makes extraordinary her footage of an Obama speech the night before the election, after he learned that the grandmother who helped raise him had died a day before seeing the ultimate dream come true. Rice was well-positioned to catch a tear trickling down Obama's face that night, a view that news cameras penned farther back missed.

On Election Night, Rice shadowed Axelrod and David Plouffe, the aides that once didn't want her around until she wore them down. She catches .....



Bookmark and Share


Please Login or Register to Rate this article



Please Login or Register to post comments on this article

  |   Read More Comments





We (AMERICANS) worked really hard to get PRESIDENT OBAMA elected. But now he is all alone. People, please, please, he needs our (AMERICANS) help, if he is to get anything done for us(THE AMERICANS PEOPLE). He can't do it without our support. We've got to get out and vote.
Continue to stay involved. He needs our help. Because AMERICANS, I'm sure you have noticed by now that the REPUBLICANS are concerned only about their PARTY NOT THE PEOPLE (NOT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. Please AMERICAN continue to vote and support our PRESIDENT.


by   
Misspat15
November 3, 2009, 8:34 pm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This publicity image shows a scene from the documentary film, "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama." (AP)

MORE HEADLINES

Obama Back to Work on Afghanistan, Jobs and Health

President Barack Obama will have scant time to rest up from his eight-day Asia trip.

Read More


Black Astronauts Conquering the Final Frontier

Orthopedic surgeon Robert Satcher put his considerable skills to work, repairing a robotic arm on NASA’s International Space Station.

Read More


Ebony Magazine's Latest Celebrates Black Power

"We showcased a wide range of intriguing people who'll undoubtedly surprise and engage our audience,” says Linda Johnson Rice.

Read More


Long-Awaited Senate Health Care Bill Unveiled

The $849 billion measure is designed to remake the nation's health care system, relying on cuts in future Medicare spending to cover costs.

Read More


Judge: Corps' Negligence Caused Katrina Flooding

A federal judge ruled the Army Corps' shoddy oversight of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet led to the flooding of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward.

Read More


Report: Dad Shot Son After Sex Abuse Accusation

Michigan authorities filed a first-degree murder charge Wednesday against Jamar Pinkney Sr. in the shooting death of his son.

Read More


The Pressure's On: BLF Walks Congress' Halls

Representatives from the groups comprising Black Leadership Forum are fanning out in Washington, D.C.

Read More


Black Activists Blast Breast Cancer Guidelines

“I’m pissed, pissed, pissed, pissed,” journalist Rene Syler said in her video blog, “Good Enough Mother.”

Read More


Barbour's Proposal on Merging HBCUs Met with Ire

“Every time the money is tight, they look at cutting money for our colleges or merging,” said Democratic state Sen. David Jordan.

Read More


Body Believed to Be Missing Girl Found

The short, tragic life of Shaniya Davis is one that too many youths in America face each day, children advocates say.

Read More


SimplyHired
Post a Job on Black America Web!



Web
blackamericaweb