American Blackout

American Blackout (2006) is a documentary film directed by Ian Inaba. It premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film chronicles the 2002 defeat, and 2004 reelection, of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney to the U.S. House of Representatives; it also discusses issues surrounding alleged voter disenfranchisement and the use of voting machines in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

American Blackout
Directed byIan Inaba
Produced byJean-Philippe Boucicaut
Anastasia King
Stephen Marshall
StarringCynthia McKinney
Music byMichael Bearden
Edited byJean-Philippe Boucicaut
Liz Canning
Ian Inaba
Distributed byGuerrilla News Network
Release date
  • September 22, 2006 (2006-09-22)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Background

The film focuses heavily on McKinney, and claims that her 2002 loss in a Democratic primary to Denise Majette (who, like McKinney, is African-American) was part of an effort to disenfranchise minority voters. McKinney claims that Republican voters in her district tipped the primary election to Majette. This itself is legal, as Georgia law opens primaries to all voters irrespective of party. After losing, McKinney filed a lawsuit claiming that open primaries are a violation of the 14th Amendment, but a court dismissed the case.

The film also includes civil rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis with a powerful recounting of the march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Also future Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders appears in this documentary speaking about the desire of big money to keep voter turnout low.[1] The documentary won the Special Jury Prize (Documentary Jury) at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.[2]

See also

References
  1. "American Blackout official website". Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  2. Catsoulis, Jeannette (September 22, 2006). "Anger and Irregularities at the Voting Booth". New York TImes.
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