Wednesday, November 1, 2006
ST. LOUIS - Today the International Documentary Association announced its finalists for the 2006 IDA Awards for Best Feature Film. Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?, made in St. Louis, is among five finalists for the award.
The movie, made in St. Louis, premiered in June of this year at Silverdocs AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Film Festival in Silver Springs, Maryland, where it received the coveted "Audience Award." After opening its theatrical distribution in St. Louis where it played for an extended six-week engagement at the Tivoli Theater, the film has been playing at theaters around the country since early summer. It will be shown again locally as part of the Webster Film Series on November 8.
The documentary examines the upstart campaign of political newcomer Jeff Smith. It offers an unvarnished and compelling look at Smith's insurgent campaign for Dick Gephardt's former seat in Congress after Gephardt retired in 2004, a race political insiders labeled one of the most surprising of 2004. "While many of the local aspects of the film have engaged St. Louis audiences," noted Director, Frank Popper "the film also points up our broken political system, where money and name recognition trump ability and new ideas, in a way that has resonated across the country. We are honored to have the film recognized by an organization as esteemed as the International Documentary Association and pleased to be in the company of so many other fine films nominated for the award."
Other nominees for the award include: