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Street Fight

Tells the gripping story of the race for mayor of Newark, N.J., where elections are won and lost in the streets.


A printer-friendly version of this page 82 minutes
Closed Captioned

Directed by Marshall Curry
Executive Producers: Liz Garbus and Rory Kennedy
Original music by James Baxter
Director of Photography: Marshall Curry
Edited by Marshall Curry
Additional Editing: Mary Manhardt and Rachel Kittner
Executive Producer for POV: Cara Mertes
Executvie Producer for ITVS: SallyJo Fifer
A Marshall Curry Productions, LLC film in association with Moxie Firecracker Films. STREET FIGHT is a co-production of the Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.





"The best American political documentary since 1993's THE WAR ROOM" The Washington Post
STREET FIGHT chronicles the bare-knuckles race for Mayor of Newark, NJ between Cory Booker, a 32-year old Rhodes Scholar/Yale Law School grad, and Sharpe James, the four-term incumbent and undisputed champion of New Jersey politics.

Fought in Newark's neighborhoods and housing projects, the battle pits Booker against an old-style political machine that uses any means necessary to crush its opponents: city workers who do not support the mayor are demoted; "disloyal" businesses are targeted by code enforcement; a campaigner is detained and accused of terrorism; and disks of voter data are burglarized in the night.

Even the filmmaker is dragged into the slugfest, and by election day, the climate becomes so heated that the Federal government is forced to send in observers to watch for cheating and violence.

The battle sheds light on important American questions about democracy, power and -- in a surprising twist -- race. Both Booker and James are African-American Democrats, but when the mayor accuses the Ivy League educated Booker of not being "really black" it forces voters to examine how we define race in this country. "We tell our children to get educated," one Newarker says, "and when they do, we call them white. What kind of a message does that send?"

STREET FIGHT tells a gripping story of the underbelly of democracy where elections are not about spin-doctors, media consultants, or photo ops. In Newark, we discover, elections are won and lost in the streets.



Grade Level: 10 - 12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 2006     Copyright Date: 2005
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-339-0     VHS ISBN: 1-59458-338-2




Reviews
"It's a hard fast film that needs airing now... Street Fight is briskly edited, imaginatively scored by James Baxter and vastly entertaining... Even if you know the outcome, Street Fight will keep you on the edge of your seat."
Variety

"Engrossing...Pulls no punches."
The New York Times

"Extraordinary...Marshall Curry...has hit the documentary jackpot."
David Denby, The New Yorker

"Unpretentious and absorbing...Street Fight has enough cultural crosscurrents to fill out a novel."
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

"***1/2... a telling behind-the-scenes chronicle... Highly recommended."
Video Librarian's Best Documentaries of the Year List

"Highly Recommended. Curry constructs a portrait of a unique and complicated political landscape in a way that conveys both the importance and the intensity of political engagement... expertly conveys the stakes at hand... [Street Fight] crystallizes how such tactics cripple the discourse needed to address issues that affect too many African American communities, such as poverty and corruption... although Curry presents many things that are wrong with the corrupt leadership in Newark, he never loses focus of the hope that many of its residents have for their community... This riveting film would be appropriate in any library collection. Street Fight offers dramatic tension that parallels even the best feature films about political intrigue, and as such would make a great addition to public libraries and curriculum-based collections alike. It would provide an engaging centerpiece for discussions concerning race issues, politics, and community development."
Meghann Matwichuk, Morris Library, University of Delaware for Educational Media Reviews Online

"Riveting drama."
Curry is one of '25 New Faces of Independent Film, 2005' Filmmaker Magazine

"Curry's film is genuinely smart and rousing."
New York Newsday

"Marshall Curry's Street Fight packs a wallop...riveting..."
Indiewire

"This is a fascinating story... A wonderful documentary."
Tavis Smiley Show, PBS

"You won't wanna' miss Street Fight"
ABC News: The Note

"A riveting expose!"
Time Out

"Street Fight, which took the [Hot Docs] festival's prize for Best International Documentary, avoids dryness entirely... It was the most riveting film I saw in the entire festival, in and out of competition."
FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics)

"Street Fight is a real life Spike Lee movie (that would be the best work of Spike's career...) A more complex version of Rocky... It is the rare documentary that commands-- not demands-- that you take action."
David Poland's The Hot Button

"Riveting documentary, in which an idealistic reformer comes to grips with machine politics and dirty tricks."
The New York Daily News

"It was exceptional."
Crooks and Liars

"Perhaps the most significant Tribeca Film Festival award is that given by the audience. And so it is time to pay attention to Street Fight... [Curry] couldn't have dreamed up a more compelling subject."
The New York Sun

"An incredible film by Marshall Curry... entertaining."
Bloomberg News

"Engrossing nonfiction -- a grimly funny account of bloody-knuckled democracy... the political version of a slasher picture."
The Star Ledger

"A compelling David versus Goliath story... Street Fight is this year's political thriller."
Center Stage with Mark Gordon, KXLU

"Street Fight is a must see documentary for anyone with even a passing interest in American politics... It's fascinating to see the drama unfold."
The Portland Mercury

"The film is a lesson in street-level politics that can not be learned in civics class."
Tribeca Trib

"Street Fight is a riveting account of the most brutal of contact sports: politics...First-time documentarian Marshall Curry emerges from the fray with a film that raises vital questions about the health of our democracy."
Museum of TV and Radio, NYC

A critics pick: (**** 4 stars) "Prepare to get seriously pissed off... [a] sharp, infuriating documentary."
Toronto Eye

A "fascinating, disturbing documentary... a ballot-box bloodbath."
San Antonio Current

"Few documentary films achieve epic climaxes worthy of a Shakespearean drama, but Street Fight does."
SilverDocs Film Festival

"Curry's film is a jaw-dropping example of rough and tumble politics that places the audience at the center of this dramatic fight."
Tribeca Film Festival



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DVDs include public performance rights.





DVD Features
with chapter selection. The DVD version is NOT closed captioned.

Links
www.marshallcurry.com The producer's web site
www.pbs.org/pov/pov2005/streetfight/ The PBS/POV web site
Study guide


Awards and Festivals
Nominated for Best Documentary Feature, Academy Awards®
Nominated for Oustanding Coverage of a News Story, Emmy Awards
National PBS Broadcast on "POV"
Audience Award, Tribeca Film Festival
Jury Prize, Best International Documentary, & Audience Award, Hot Docs Film Festival
Audience Award, SilverDocs Film Festival
Gold Hugo for Best Program, Chicago International Television Awards
Video Librarian's Best Documentaries of the Year List
American Library Association's VRT Notable Videos for Adults List
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA)
Nominee for IDA Award, International Documentary Awards Competition
American Sociological Association's Annual Meeting Film/Video Screenings
Human Rights Watch International Travelling Film Festival
International Documentary Film Festival of Montreal
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
Maryland Film Festival
Fabulous Festival of Fringe Film
Urban World Film Festival
Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival

Subjects
African-American Studies
American Democracy
American Studies
Anthropology
Citizenship and Civics
Communications
Government
Humanities
Journalism
Law
Political Science
Race and Racism
Social Psychology
Sociology
Urban Studies


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Abandoned
Exposé of the horrifying results of the 1996 immigration law.

XXI CENTURY
A seven-part series that gives context and perspective to events since the 2000 presidential elections and 9/11.

Deadly Mistakes?
A 2-DVD set designed to help students critically analyze some of our foreign policy interventions since World War II.

... more Reviews


"A truly exceptional piece of filmmaking...a tight and coherent narrative that has universal appeal...One could argue that Curry stumbled into a gold mine when he ventured from his Brooklyn home to Newark, but not anyone could have taken such a complicated and colorful campaign and produced something thus focused and, dare I say, sharp."
Politics NJ

A "tough look at issues of race, class and corruption."
Vancouver Straight

"Winner of the [Toronto Hot Docs Festival] Best International Documentary prize, Marshall Curry's film is both a fight story worthy of a UFC match and a penetrating examination of racism, bossism and privilege in American municipal politics"
Dose

[Street Fight is a] "terrific fly-on-the-wall documentary"
Toronto Metro

"Eye-opening...This film demonstrates chillingly how down-and-dirty politics happen at the local level as well as nationally."
The Martha's Vineyard Times

"...very insightful."
Word Magazine

**** (4 stars) "Absolutely vital viewing...A scary look at how race and class divisions are perhaps most venomous when they afflict the same race and class...[It's] not too much to call Street Fight a microcosm of a crippling national disease."
Film Freak Central

"Go see this film...This is powerful stuff."
Blog T.O.

"Hats off to Marshall Curry for making this courageous film... Street Fight is a film every American and every Black American needs to see."
Diversity in Business

"A fascinating documentary."
Cincinatti Enquirer

"In a sea of small print and button pushing, it's refreshing to see another straightforward and honest look at the underbelly of American politics. It's this directness that keeps Marshall Curry's Street Fight interesting and exciting from start to finish, giving viewers a front row seat of an underdog's campaign against a seemingly fixed system...Firmly Recommended."
DVDtalk.com


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