Filmmakers picked the right pol to profile Duo won Obama's trust, got 'historic' shots

November 2, 2009
BY MARY HOULIHAN
Filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams were in the right place at the right time.

The place was Africa and the time was the fall of 2006. They were in the early stages of filming a documentary examining the political experience of a promising young politician of their generation.

But "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama," which debuts on HBO Tuesday night, doesn't include any of that Africa footage. Instead, it follows 19 months of daily ups and downs of a presidential campaign that ends in the White House.

The filmmakers were on board early, gaining them cred with Obama and campaign organizers.

"It was never a clearly defined proposal and then a blanket acceptance," said actor Edward Norton, one of the movie's producers. "It was access by stages and slow increments." ....snip

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/television/1859061,CST-FTR-people02a.article

..... from a simple standpoint of stagecraft, the man is shere magic.

I hope that, one day, they'll release the early Senate footage they took as well.

..... SURELY it will come out on DVD. My only consolation is that, with it being election night, I wouldn't be watching it anyway (I'd record it.)