HBO Obama Doc, the world expects...

I'm somewhat excited by the prospect of the eagerly awaited, as yet untitled Obama Documentary. THE Obama documentary. Spoken of in hushed tones on various documentary blogs, film sites and by industry insider hacks, the film promises much and I, for one, will be following it very closely. US broadcaster HBO have bought the rights to the film for a 7 figure sum and it is currently being edited by a team with backing from actor Edward Norton. Clearly a film that will have serious legs.

The filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams followed Obama's campaign for the 08 Election even before the 'Pres Elect' had decided to run. If you believe the hype then some say we could see a film that rivals the epic 1993 Clinton Campaign documentary, The War Room. 

(Incidentally BBC's Storyville are also interested in broadcasting the film - so keep looking out for updates on the beeb towards the middle of 2009)

It's obviously too early to draw any comparisons but if you believe, like I do, that the best documentaries (and films for that matter) are driven by strong characters then let's hope the film gives us proper first hand access to the Obama campaign bigwigs. What made the War Room so watchable was the informal interaction of Clinton campaign chiefs James Carville and George Stefanopoulos with the camera and the common touch values of the Clinton ideology.

What I'd really like is to see the same candour and frankness from Obama key figures of Dan Pfeiffer (communications chief), David Axelrod and David Plouffe (campaign manager). However, whether like in the War Room, we'll see Obama wandering around in his underwear doing phone interviews, a la Clinton remains to be seen.

 In the meantime here are a couple of other campaign docs you might want to check out, Journeys with George and JFK A President to remember and if you're really interested... one about Jimmy Carter.

I'm somewhat excited by the prospect of the eagerly awaited, as yet untitled Obama Documentary. THE Obama documentary. Spoken of in hushed tones on various documentary blogs, film sites and by industry insider hacks, the film promises much and I, for one, will be following it very closely. US broadcaster HBO have bought the rights to the film for a 7 figure sum and it is currently being edited by a team with backing from actor Edward Norton. Clearly a film that will have serious legs.