11/4/08

Two weeks before the election of Barack Obama, filmmaker Jeff Deutchman asked his friends around the world to record their experiences of 11/4/08, a day that had become “historic” before it had even taken place. He collected footage from a combination of passionate amateurs and acclaimed independent filmmakers, including Henry Joost (Catfish), Margaret Brown (The Order of Myths), Joe Swanberg (Alexander the Last) and Benh Zeitlin (Glory At Sea). In this vérité documentary, we see the results of that project: in St. Louis and Austin, idealistic volunteers think they can turn their states blue; in Chicago, voter lines are made even longer when Obama shows up to cast his own vote; in Alaska, children seem to be as invested in the election results as their parents; in Paris, an organization discusses whether there could ever be a black President of France; in Dubai, Berlin, Geneva and New Dehli, expatriates express their emotion from a distance; and in Harlem, a felon casts doubt on whether any of this will actually affect his life. As we approach the final announcement of Obama’s victory at 11pm EST, what emerges is a portrait of how people choose to live through “history”: the celebration of a new future remaining entangled with the universally visible tensions of the past.

"EXHILIRATING.”
- Michael Moore

“Watching the film you’re reminded how it felt for so much of the country to have so much hope.”
- Ari Berman, The Nation

“A PROVOCATIVE, CINEMATIC EXPERIMENT.”
- Michael Tully, Hammer To Nail

“11/4/08 offer[s] you another way to think about history. The symbols in this documentary invite you to watch, absorb, and interpret.”
- Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters

“THOUGHT-PROVOKING.”
- Jonathan Lichman, White House Correspondents

“One of Ten to Watch at SXSW.”
- Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE

“THE DEFINITIVE DOCUMENTARY CHRONICLING THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA.”
- Robert Saucedo, Inside Pulse

“11/4/08 shines…has the power of a double-barreled shotgun blast…Robert Drew would be proud of the direct cinema distillation of pure human experience on display.”
- Stephen Saito, IFC News

“A WHIRLWIND 70 MINUTES [IN WHICH] TIME STANDS STILL AND SPACE DOES NOT ACT AS A BARRIER BETWEEN PEOPLE.”
- Zach Wigon, Paper Magazine

"Shot on dozens of digital cameras, it deals in emotions as opposed to narrative, and in the idea that moviemaking can be a social collective rather than an exercise in the auteur theory.” (IFC.com)