American Blackout

Last updated

American Blackout
American Blackout VideoCover.png
Directed by Ian Inaba
Produced byJean-Philippe Boucicaut
Anastasia King
Stephen Marshall
Starring Cynthia McKinney
Edited byJean-Philippe Boucicaut
Liz Canning
Ian Inaba
Music byMichael Bearden
Distributed by Guerrilla News Network
Release date
  • September 22, 2006 (2006-09-22)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

American Blackout (2006) is a documentary film directed by Ian Inaba. It premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film chronicles the 2002 defeat, and 2004 reelection, of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney to the U.S. House of Representatives; it also discusses issues surrounding alleged voter disenfranchisement and the use of voting machines in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

Contents

Background

The film focuses heavily on McKinney, and claims that her 2002 loss in a Democratic primary to Denise Majette (who, like McKinney, is African-American) was part of an effort to disenfranchise minority voters. McKinney claims that Republican voters in her district tipped the primary election to Majette. This itself is legal, as Georgia law opens primaries to all voters irrespective of party. After losing, McKinney filed a lawsuit claiming that open primaries are a violation of the 14th Amendment, but a court dismissed the case.

The film also includes civil rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis with a powerful recounting of the march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Also future Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders appears in this documentary speaking about the desire of big money to keep voter turnout low. [1] The documentary won the Special Jury Prize (Documentary Jury) at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. [2]

Reception

Upon its release, the film received generally favorable reviews from contemporary cinema critics, with a score of 77% on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews. [3] The New York Times designated the documentary as a "NYT Critics' Pick", with critic Jeannette Catsoulis writing that although it is "occasionally inflammatory", the film is not "a conspiracy rant", but rather "a methodical compilation of questions and irregularities that deserves a wider audience". [4]

Awards

The film was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Self Medicated</i> 2005 American film

Self Medicated is a 2005 American teen drama film written, directed by and starring Monty Lapica. Based on actual events in Lapica's life, the film is about a troubled teenager whose mother has him kidnapped at age 17 by a private company and forcibly committed to a locked-down psychiatric institute. Lapica was not originally going to star in the film. According to the subsequent documentary, The Making of Self-Medicated (2007), he did so after casting calls failed to produce a suitable candidate.

<i>Earth Days</i> 2009 American film

Earth Days is a 2009 documentary film about the history of the environmental movement in the United States, directed by Robert Stone and distributed by Zeitgeist Films in theaters. Earth Days premiered at the 2009 Wisconsin Film Festival, and released to theatres on August 14, 2009.

<i>Good Hair</i> 2009 American comedy documentary film by Jeff Stilson

Good Hair is a 2009 American documentary film directed by Jeff Stilson and produced by Chris Rock Productions and HBO Films, starring and narrated by comedian Chris Rock. Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2009, Good Hair had a limited release to theaters in the United States by Roadside Attractions on October 9, 2009, and opened across the country on October 23.

rakontur is a Miami-based media studio founded by Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman in 2000.

<i>Cropsey</i> (film) 2009 American film

Cropsey is a 2009 American documentary film written and directed by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio. The film initially begins as an examination of "Cropsey", a boogeyman-like figure from New York City urban legend, before segueing into the story of Andre Rand, a convicted child kidnapper from Staten Island whose known or suspected crimes in the 1970s and '80s may have inspired or been blamed on Cropsey.

<i>Peter and Vandy</i> 2009 American film

Peter and Vandy is a 2009 American romantic independent drama film starring Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler. The film was written and directed by Jay DiPietro, adapted from his own play of the same name which opened in 2002 in New York.

<i>Crime After Crime</i> (film) 2011 American film

Crime After Crime is a 2011 award-winning documentary film directed by Yoav Potash about the case of Deborah Peagler, an incarcerated victim of domestic violence whose case was taken up by pro bono attorneys through The California Habeas Project.

<i>Darwin</i> (2011 film) 2011 Swiss film

Darwin is a 2011 documentary film directed by Nick Brandestini. It is a portrait of the small and remote community of Darwin, located in California's Mojave Desert. The community is part of Inyo County, California. The film was released to good reviews at film festivals throughout the world and also had a limited theatrical release in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Mickle</span> American director and writer (born 1979)

Jim Mickle is an American director and writer, known for such films as Mulberry Street, Stake Land, We Are What We Are and Cold in July. He also co-developed the SundanceTV series Hap and Leonard, and the Netflix series Sweet Tooth.

<i>C.O.G.</i> 2013 American film

C.O.G. is an American comedy drama film directed and written by Kyle Patrick Alvarez and starring Jonathan Groff. The film, whose title stands for Child of God, is based on a David Sedaris short story from his book of collected essays, Naked. It marks the first time one of Sedaris's stories was adapted for film. It co-stars Denis O'Hare, Casey Wilson, Dean Stockwell, Troian Bellisario, and Corey Stoll. C.O.G. was filmed on location in Forest Grove, Oregon in October 2012.

<i>The Internets Own Boy</i> 2014 American film

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz is a 2014 American biographical documentary film about Aaron Swartz written, directed, and produced by Brian Knappenberger. The film premiered in the US Documentary Competition program category at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2014.

<i>When I Walk</i> 2013 Canadian film

When I Walk is a 2013 autobiographical documentary film directed by Jason DaSilva. The film follows DaSilva during the seven years following his diagnosis of primary progressive multiple sclerosis. When I Walk premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, won Best Canadian Feature Documentary at the 2013 HotDocs Film Festival, and won an Emmy for the News & Documentary Emmy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Heineman</span> American documentary filmmaker

Matthew Heineman is an American documentary filmmaker, director, and producer. His inspiration and fascination with American history led him to early success with the documentary film Cartel Land, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film, a BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, and won three Primetime Emmy Awards.

<i>My Friend the Polish Girl</i> 2018 British film

My Friend the Polish Girl is a UK/Polish pseudo-documentary drama feature film written, directed, and co-produced by Ewa Banaszkiewicz and Mateusz Dymek. Starring Aneta Piotrowska, Emma Friedman-Cohen, Daniel Barry, Andy Abbot, Darren Rose, and Max Davis, it premiered in competition at the 2018 International Film Festival Rotterdam.

<i>Generation Wealth</i> 2018 documentary film by Lauren Greenfield

Generation Wealth is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Lauren Greenfield. It follows Greenfield's 2017 book and photo exhibition of the same name.

<i>XY Chelsea</i> 2019 British documentary film

XY Chelsea is a 2019 American-British documentary film directed by Tim Travers Hawkins, written by Travers Hawkins, Mark Monroe, Enat Sidi, and Andrea B. Scott. Laura Poitras serves as an executive producer. The film follows Chelsea Manning, after she is released from prison.

<i>Boys State</i> (film) 2020 documentary film directed by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine

Boys State is a 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine. It follows a thousand teenage boys attending Boys State in Texas, coming to build a representative government from the ground up.

<i>The Earth Is Blue as an Orange</i> 2020 documentary film

The Earth Is Blue as an Orange is a 2020 documentary film, directed and written by Iryna Tsilyk, who won the Directing Award in the "World Cinema Documentary” category for the film at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

<i>Assassins</i> (2020 film) 2020 American film

Assassins is a 2020 American documentary film, directed and produced by Ryan White. It talks about the assassination of Kim Jong-nam and the two assassins who were tricked.

Bad Press is a 2023 documentary film directed by Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler.

References

  1. ↑ "American Blackout official website". Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  2. ↑ Catsoulis, Jeannette (September 22, 2006). "Anger and Irregularities at the Voting Booth". The New York Times .
  3. ↑ "American Blackout (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  4. ↑ Catsoulis, Jeannette (September 22, 2006). "Review: Anger and Irregularities at the Voting Booth". New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  5. ↑ Yamato, Jen (January 30, 2006). "Sundance: End of Festival Awards Announced". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved July 15, 2021.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.