"All In" -- Movie Review

 

On the opening weekend of The 58^th New York Film Festival, I streamed the new Amazon documentary, “All In: The Fight for Democracy”, featuring Stacey Abrams.

Synopsis

Stacey Abrams chronicles her campaign for Georgia Governor and illustrates how her loss follows a pattern of voter suppression.

Story

In 2018, Democrat Stacey Abrams declared her candidacy for Governor of the state of Georgia.  Previously, she had served in the state’s House Of Representatives, eventually becoming the House minority leader.  Her opponent was Republican Brian Kemp, the Georgia Secretary Of State, who was in charge of all elections that took place throughout the state.  As it became clear through the campaign that Abrams was earning a huge following, it is believed Kemp grew so concerned he might lose that he may have used his influence to interfere with the election.

Manipulation of elections and preventing prospective voters from casting a ballot is nothing new in elections – especially in the United States.  Once slavery ended, southern states looked for ways to keep African Americans from voting; one way was via a poll tax in order to discourage the Black vote.  Since may of them lived in poverty, they would be forced to make a choice:  either pay money to vote or use that money to buy food.  It was not until the 1960's that President Johnson -- with the help of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- that the Voting Rights Act was made law.    

Years later, this bigotry remained intact but more insidious.  Nothing set this off more than the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.  Seeing how the demographics of the nation was changing, local governments gerrymandered their congressional districts in such a way that Democrats – and especially minorities – would be under-represented.  This was exacerbated when the Supreme Court effectively blew up the Voting Rights Act, which allowed many states – including a number of northern states – to conduct similar re-districting.    

Review

Watching “All In:  The Fight For Democracy” is infuriating, disquieting and depressing.  It’s infuriating because it makes painfully clear Abrams had the election stolen from her.  Disquieting because the voter suppression prevalent during the Jim Crow era was not only alive and well but also expanding in its geography and sophistication.  It’s ultimately depressing because on the weekend of Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s death, it reminds us how the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, setting the stage for the gerrymandering in the United States. 

Ultimately, you feel pride and immense inspiration to vote.  It’s hard to watch this documentary dispassionately; as an American, it stirs up so many emotions simultaneously – and that’s part of what makes “All In” so effective.  What’s alarming is how ill prepared our nation is if there’s a large voter turnout; we see both Abrams and Kemp (who eventually went on to win) encounter difficulties when trying to vote.  Many Georgia residents had to wait in line for hours to vote because of a combination of high volume and defective voting machines. 

As to the documentary itself, it is well structured; it lays out a clear story and tells it in a compelling fashion, resulting in a resolution.  The filmmakers did an outstanding job of telling multiple tales concurrently:  that of Abrams herself intertwined with racism, sexism and an explanation of how elections are stolen – in ways both obvious and subtle.  Both stories are so layered and complex, it is a tribute to the movie’s directors, Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés.  By the end of the film, if you don’t feel moved to vote, then what will it take?