Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story will be screened at MASS MoCA
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Before there was Karl Rove, there was Lee Atwater. He
mentored George W. Bush and played a crucial-and equally controversial-role in the elections of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He wrote the Republican Party's playbook which the McCain campaign used in the 2008 presidential election. Boogie Man is a surprising look at Lee Atwater, the blues-playing rogue whose rambunctious rise from the south to chairman of the GOP made him a household name. The documentary film Boogie Man will be screened at MASS MoCA on Thursday, March 5, at 7:30pm as the fourth film in MASS MoCA's Larger Than Life documentary series. Director Stefan Forbes timely documentary for this past election year examines the charming yet Machiavellian godfather of the modern negative political campaign.In eye-opening interviews with Atwater's closest friends and enemies, Boogie Man re-examines Atwater's crucial role in the remaking of the Republican Party. To Democrats offended by his cut-throat style (the 1988 Willie Horton ad was his brainchild), Atwater was a political assassin dubbed "the most evil man in America" by one Congresswoman. But to most Republicans he remains a hero for his deep understanding of the American heartland, his expert manipulation of the media, and his unapologetic vision of politics as war. Boogie Man presents previously unaired interviews with Atwater in which he addresses, and sometimes denies, his most famous political moves. The film also reveals incendiary accusations from friend and foe alike, while revealing the personal history of the man behind the most important Republican leaders in recent history.
After a hard defeat in the 2000 presidential primary by Atwater protégé Tucker Eskew, John McCain denounced Atwater's signature smear tactics and vowed to run a different kind of political campaign in the future. But after falling behind in 2008, he hired Eskew as a senior advisor and Eskew eventually managed Sarah Palin on the campaign trail. Lee Atwater's political playbook had proved so successful for Republicans in the past, that even self-proclaimed maverick John McCain, couldn't reject Atwater's legacy of "change the subject" politics, which attempts to shift the public focus from the issues to deeply ingrained prejudices and fears. Says Karl Rove of Atwater: "[he] was part myth, part showman, and part political mastermind. He was one of the most unique people I've ever met in my life."
Stefan Forbes is an Emmy-nominated director. His award-winning documentary One More Dead Fish, about renegade fishermen in Nova Scotia struggling to survive globalization, was broadcast on PBS. He has written and directed Emmy-nominated, award-winning national PSA campaigns featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, Mike Myers, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Broderick, and others. Formerly a cinematographer, he shot five feature films and created a look for several hit TV shows. Forbes is a 2006 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow. Boogie Man is his debut feature as director.
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story recently won several awards: the 2008 Polk Award, 2008 WGA Award nomination for Best Theatrical Documentary and the 2008 IDA Emerging Filmmaker Award. Filmmaker Stefan Forbes will join us for the screening and take questions after the film.
Tickets for Boogie Man are $8/ $5 for students. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams, open from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M., closed Tuesdays. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413-662-2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org.
