Barack Obama Movies
A veritable household name during the 2008 presidential election (in which he won the Democratic nomination, roundly defeating Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York), Barack Obama campaigned for the United States Presidency while serving as a Democratic senator in Illinois. The product of a unique and complex ethno-cultural heritage -- he began life in Honolulu as the son of a white Kansan mother and a Kenyan father -- Obama spent various periods of his childhood in Indonesia and Hawaii. As a young man, he attended Columbia University as a political science major, then held a job as a Manhattan financial counselor before growing listless, moving to Chicago, and taking on a job as a community organizer -- a post that witnessed him working strenuously with churches to aid the impoverished in local housing projects. Obama later attended Harvard Law School, where he excelled, and became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. A successful bid for the Senate followed, culminating with a November 2004 victory. As a presidential candidate, Obama exuded a populist appeal that won him legions of supporters and enabled him to cinch the nomination.Cinematically, Obama limited his exposure to participation in documentaries, including the biographical profiles Senator Obama Goes to Africa (2007) and Biography: Barack Obama (2007), and the Darfur genocide-themed muckraking documentary The Devil Came on Horseback (2007). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Illinois Senator Barack Obama travels to Africa in this 2007 documentary for an examination of social situations on the continent as well as a personal exploration of his heritage. Highlights include visits to the South African prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 27 years and the Kenyan town where Obama's father was raised. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
In late 2006, former U.S. Marine captain Brian Steidle traveled to Darfur, Sudan, with the African Union peacekeeping force -- and found his life and perspective on the world forever changed. Devastated and racked with horror by the Janjaweed-driven genocide in the western region of the country (which has claimed 400,000 lives), Steidle set out to work against these atrocities -- atrocities systematically denied and publicly buried by the corrupt Sudanese government. Despite his initial hesitancies, Steidle ultimately agreed to plunge headfirst into the conflict -- and to work toward achieving social change not through violence but through peaceful, humanitarian efforts. His efforts carried him to a myriad of countries and multiple continents; throughout, Steidle took over 1,000 photographs to document the horrors, thus spreading awareness of this crisis to the remainder of the world and roundly defeating Sudanese governmental denials of the genocide. In their nonfiction work The Devil Came on Horseback, documentarians Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg bring viewers along with Steidle on his intensely moving personal journey, and shed light on a region of the world rapidly plunging into its own inescapable hell. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Steidle
- 2007
This documentary touches upon the various aspects of Barack Obama's life that formed him into the politician who became the first minority Presidential candidate of a major political party. The program discusses various highlights of his life including his successful 2004 Senate campaign. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barack Obama
Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Paul Freedman directs this sobering documentary about the genocidal crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. Freedman followed a group of African Union peacekeeping forces on a journey through the area, observing the 2.5 million people displaced from their homes by brutal violence, and forced to stay in the squalor of temporary camps. Analyzing the cultural, political, and historical background of the area, the film examines how the government in Sudan was able to turn so ruthlessly against its own indigenous people, creating what would most likely go down in history as one of humanity's most shameful moments. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Barack Obama profiles several African-Americans who had a profound impact on United States history, including former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, legendary boxer uhammad Ali, vocalist Marian Anderson, athlete Jesse Owens, and Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to serve in the United States congress. Supplemental material includes rare archival footage and interviews outlining the many challenges these extraordinary men and women had to face to achieve the feats that continue to encourage individual perseverance and an understanding of the progress of cultural diversity in America. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barack Obama
