AMERICAN BLACKOUT

DC Premiere

Ian Inaba's purposeful film is replete with righteous anger. Featuring interviews with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, he exposes the continuing disenfranchisement of black voters across America-by institutional failures in Florida and Ohio during the last two presidential elections, by Republicans who crossover in Georgia's open primary to vote against liberal black democrat Cynthia McKinney in the 2002 election, and by the climate of frustration and disinterest that such systemic and targeted disenfranchisement produces.

Inaba's film is largely an exploration of these events and how passion and political engagement within the African American community can-and cannot-overcome them. Particularly powerful are the segments with McKinney's fellow Georgia Congressman John Lewis, a former Civil Rights activist who led the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama that brought attention to that era's systemic disenfranchisement and led to the Voting Rights Act. The Act is up for renewal next year, and Inaba's film is a visceral and compelling reminder of why it is still necessary.

Although made before Congresswoman McKinney's recent altercation with the Capitol Police, Inaba's film accomplishes what the media during that controversy did not even try to do: it gives context to McKinney's perspective and depth to her values and political priorities.

-Caroline Small

DIRECTOR BIO
Ian Inaba has recently transformed from a creative consultant to a director and producer of highly controversial media projects. In 2004, his video for Eminem's Mosh was nominated for MTV's "Breakthrough" Music Video Award. Earlier that year, Inaba became a published author with the debut of True Lies, co-written with his partners at GNN. Inaba has also served as the CEO of Switch Technologies and was previously a software executive and investment banker. He is a graduate of the School of Engineering and Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and is a native of Berkeley, CA.

Print Source:
Anastasia King
GNN Productions
2887 College Avenue #369
Berkeley, CA 94705
510.841.1555
www.americanblackout.org

6/14 at 6:00 PM

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