Pennebaker Hegedus Films

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The War Room (1993)

"To those who live beyond the orbit of the capital, The War Room is a nimble, edifying primer on how Presidential campaigns are run and won. But to many of those who live and work in Washington, it is a home movie starring James Carville and George Stephanoupoulous." — New York Times

The War Room was the name for Bill Clinton’s campaign center in Little Rock, Ark. Though the press wasn’t usually permitted inside this small warren of chaos, filmmakers D A Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, managed to secure partial access and shot nearly 35 hours of footage there. At the center of The War Room are the two men who guided Clinton’s ship from the beginning: James Carville, the fiery, charismatic, expletive-spewing Cajun who manages the campaign with a mixture of Southern charm and unrelenting passion; and George Stephanopoulos, the brilliant, handsome Rhodes Scholar who, as communications director, calmly but surely mobilizes his staff to take the presidency.

Hegedus and Pennebaker’s camera follow these two masterminds as they organize and execute strategies for such events as the Democratic National Convention, the debates with George Bush and H. Ross Perot, and the final, nail-biting days leading up to the election itself, when it seemed less and less certain whom the voters would choose. The War Room is a compelling and enlightening adventure story about two remarkable men, and about the monumental effort, determination and chutzpah that is required to conduct—and win—a political campaign in the modern age.

A film by Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker
1993, 96 min., color

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