Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election
| Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Richard Ray Pérez Joan Sekler |
| Written by | William Haugse Richard Ray Pérez Joan Sekler |
| Produced by | Richard Ray Pérez Joan Sekler |
| Starring | Danny Glover (2004) |
| Narrated by | Peter Coyote |
| Cinematography | Richard Ray Pérez |
| Edited by | William Haugse Matthew Martin |
| Music by | Bobby Johnston |
| Distributed by | Shout! Factory |
Release date |
|
Running time | 47 min. (2002) 57 min. (2004) |
| Language | English |
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election is a 2002 47-minute documentary directed and co-written by Richard Ray Pérez and Joan Sekler,[1] and narrated by Peter Coyote,[2] about the contested 2000 presidential election in Florida.[3]
It was re-released in an extended 56-minute[4] 2004 Campaign Edition presented by Danny Glover to tie in with the 2004 US presidential election.[5]
A Public Interest Pictures Film, it was co-executive produced by Robert Greenwald and Earl Katz.[1] Greenwald later made this the first of his "Un-Trilogy", which also includes Uncovered: The War on Iraq and Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties.[6]
Synopsis
[edit]Unprecedented chronicles irregularities in the 2000 US presidential election in the swing state of Florida.[3]
The film begins with claims that African Americans and other likely Democratic voters were disenfranchised by a resurrected 1868 law that prevented felons from voting. [7] This law was originally intended to keep blacks from the polls, in the wake of the Civil War.[8] In 2000, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris used the original law to create a computerized list of supposed ex-cons. The list had the vaguest parameters, and included as many as 57,000 to 91,000 non-felons, who were overwhelmingly people of color.[5] On election day, these people were turned away at the polls.[4] Since 90% of African Americans vote Democratic, this effectively reduced the number of votes for Democratic candidate Al Gore.[5]
Unprecedented also examines the Florida recount and the hanging chad controversy.[4] It faults Gore for demanding a recount of only certain counties, instead of the whole state;[2] and also presents evidence that the Republican Party paid staffers to create a disturbance and end the recount prematurely.[7]
The film then takes aim at the December 2000 Supreme Court decision that gave George W. Bush the presidency.[4] The film documents conflicts of interest that should have resulted in the recusal of two of the SCOTUS justices.[7]
Finally, it explores the problems with electronic voting machines.[5] It argues that the companies that make these machines do not allow audits of the machines (allegedly because of copyright and trademark issues), which leaves them wide open for fraud.[4] The machines also do not give paper receipts, so there is no physical evidence in case of the need for a recount.[7]
Distribution
[edit]In the festival circuit, the film won eleven awards, including the Grand Festival award at the Berkley Film and Video Festival; the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, and the Director's Award at the New York International Film Festival.[5] It enjoyed a limited theatrical release[8] and was broadcast internationally on cable.[9] The DVD sold extremely well on Amazon.com, coming in at 68 on their 2004 sales rank.[8] Liberal advocacy group MoveOn sold 25,000 copies in three days.[10] Unprecedented was also viewed at screenings in homes and communities across the country, and was available streaming on the Internet.[10]
This multi-tiered distribution model was revolutionary at the time. Executive Producer Robert Greenwald called it a "breakthrough", and has honed it in his subsequent films.[10]
Unprecedented is said to have "jumpstarted" Greenwald's documentary filmmaking career.[8]
After this film, Sekler went on to produce Unconvention: A Mix-Tape from St. Paul, RNC '08, a documentary about the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
See also
[edit]- Bush Family Fortunes (2004)
- Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
References
[edit]- ^ a b Klein, Andy (November 24, 2002). "Review:'Unprecedented the 2000 Presidential Election'". Unprecedented.
- ^ a b Rosenbaum, Jonothan (21 November 2003). "Unpredented: The 2000 Presidential Election". The Chicago Reader.
- ^ a b Roten, Robert (October 27, 2004). "Laramie Movie Review: Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election". Laramie Movie Review.
- ^ a b c d e "Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election: Another Civics Lesson from Greenwald; Did the US Experience a Coup?". Bills Media Reviews. February 11, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Benson, Thomas; Snee, Brian (2008). The Rhetoric of the New Political Documentary. Southern Illinois University.
- ^ Nichols, John (September 16, 2004). "Filmmaker Takes Fox News to Task". Capital Times.
- ^ a b c d Burr, Ty (October 31, 2003). "Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election". Boston Globe.
- ^ a b c d Rampell, Ed (2005). Progressive Hollywood. The Disinformation Company Ltd.
- ^ "Broadcast". Unprecedented.org. Archived from the original on 2003-10-15. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
- ^ a b c Thompson, Rustin (September 23, 2004). "Robert Greenwald". MovieMaker.