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 | September 17, 2002 (U.S. premiere) |
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]
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]
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.