By The People: The Election of Barack Obama

The documentary film By The People: The Election of Barack Obama is a behind the scenes look at Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams began filming Obama in 2006, nearly a year before he announced his candidacy. The initial idea was to examine the political experience of a promising young politician, but the focus changed once he decided to run for president in early 2007.

The film starts with the building of a grassroots movement in Iowa and follows the campaign through the primary battles with Senator Clinton, the controversy of Rev. Wright, and eventually securing the Democratic Party nomination. It then moves on to the general election campaign and finishes with Obama winning on that first Tuesday in November. It is an intimate look at the Obama family and those key people in the campaign as well as the many volunteers throughout the country who worked to get Obama elected. Having followed the campaign from afar it was nice to get an up close look at everything that happened in this historic race.