Political documentaries are increasingly becoming more popular among mainstream audiences. This past election cycle, especially, has shown us that we don’t need to look beyond our own reality to find the most compelling characters, captivating narratives and comedic moments to entertain us.
I spoke to one of the newest filmmakers to address political themes through documentary film is Jason Pollock, 27, who captured the stories of several teenagers running for public office.
JW: How did you come up with the idea to make a film about young people in politics?
JP: I was Michael Moore’s assistant from 2003 – 2006. I aided him in making Fahrenheit 9/11 and that experience changed my life forever. I knew I wanted to make a political documentary that was cool and funny just like the way MM makes docs. When I left him to make my own film I was very inspired by the fact that Michael Moore was one of the first 18 year olds elected to public office in America. When they changed the law in the early 70’s that teens could run for office, Michael ran and was elected to the school board at 18 years old in Davison Michigan. I loved hearing MM talk about that experience and I wanted to find the newest generation of teen politicians and make a film following their campaigns.
JW: How did you find the characters and stories that you follow in your film?
JPI did about 2 years of research to pick the 4 characters in my film. It mainly was a lot of googling and nexus lexus. I wanted to find kids that were cool to put a different face on youth politics in this country. I was also very deliberate in not putting a white dude running for office in my film. No offense to white dudes, but I’m a little tired of watching them run for office and I wanted to show a multitude of races and ethnicities. My film profiles a Latino American male, an Indian American male, an African American male, and a white woman. I feel that these faces are much more representative to what is actually going on in America and I’m excited to get the stories of these inspiring young adults out there.
JW: What did you discover while on the road making this film that was most surprising?
JP: The most surprising thing I found was just how much racism there is in politics in this country. I don’t want to ruin any surprises in my film but there are a number of racist remarks made during the campaigns in the film. I was shocked that people could be so racist around a video camera and that they didn’t care at all that I was there filming. You can see it on the national level as well… The Republican party continues to call Obama a Muslim when everyone knows he is not. That kind of ignorance has no place in politics but unfortunately I saw that it still plays a very prevalent role… Even at the local level.
JW: Most documentaries and news reports about young people in politics portray them in supporting roles in other, older people’s campaigns or as apathetic to the political process. What message is your film putting out there by tracing young people at the forefront of politics, running their own campaigns?
JP: I think my film will energize a new block of youth involvement in politics in this country. Most high school teens do not know that they can run for office when they are 18. My hope is that my film can change that and then once they know we will find 1000’s of teens running for office each year. I think that is a good thing for America.
JW: When you began making The Youngest Candidate, how did you hope it would impact the people who saw it? Is it having that impact now?
JP: My hope was to educate the youth of America about the power that they hold in the political process. I showed the film to a high school in Rochester, NY this week. Out of 160 kids in the room, only 5 knew that they could run for office when they turn 18. I think that this film can really teach a whole new generation about this fact and that really excites me.
JW: How has your experience making The Youngest Candidate in any way informed your perspective on the 2008 presidential election, if at all?
JP: I think it has showed me that when young people are coming up fast it really intimidates their older counterparts. A lot of the older generations don’t know how to deal with a young person who excels. I saw it on the campaign trail with the characters in my film and its obviously taking place at the national level with this year’s presidential race.
JW: A prominent theme throughout the primaries and now the general election is that of “experience.” Barack Obama’s opponents claim he doesn’t have enough of it in general, and specifically now enough executive experience. Sarah Palin’s opponents claim she doesn’t have enough international experience. Candidates have been throwing around the notion of “ready on day one” versus “on the job training” as ways of bolstering their own image, and hurting their opponents’. I imagine all of the candidates in this election cycle would use the “inexperienced” argument if running against any of the characters in your film. How would you respond to that and how might this shift the discourse on “experience” in politics?
JP: Abraham Lincoln had virtually no experience when he was elected to president and he was one of the best presidents in American history. I think that people need to focus more on who the candidate is as a person and how they lead their life. People need to look at their record to see if they are truthful and walk a straight line. We need to stop playing politics with the experience card.
JW: How can people learn more about this film?
JP: Check out my website [www.TheYoungestCandidate.com]. I also have a new trailer up and Shepard Fairey designed amazng artwork for my film which is also on my site. I also have a blog on my site where I’ve been writing about my battleground state election tour with Zune and Declare Yourself. Here is the link for my blog [www.theyoungestcandidate.com]
–Jamie Wong
