HBO has picked up the rights to a documentary on President-elect Barack Obama’s run to the White House.
The film, produced by actor Edward Norton and directed by Amy Rice and Alicia Sams, has been a couple years in the making. Rice and Sams started following the Illinois senator in 2006, before Obama announced he would run for president, and received what HBO calls “unprecedented access” to Obama and those around him during the campaign.
“Sen. Obama’s history-making race for the White House has given our film a perfect framework to explore the pulse of the country at this vital moment in our history,” Norton says. “We believe this film will capture a tipping point in American history when a new generation of leadership emerged and old prejudices were finally vaulted over.”
The co-directors will continue shooting through Obama’s inauguration in January. The currently untitled film will premiere sometime later in 2009.
Rice has co-directed a documentary called From Ashes and has worked as a camera operator and cinematographer on both documentary and narrative films. Sams has produced several documentaries, including Toots, about New York nightlife legend Toots Shor, and Buddy, about the rise and fall of Providence, R.I., mayor Buddy Cianci.
Source: Zap2It
