South African Indian filmmaker to produce Obama documentary

Johannesburg, Jan 17 (IANS) Amid global media frenzy over the inauguration of Obama Barack, award-winning South African Indian filmmaker Anant Singh said Saturday that he would produce a documentary feature on the first black president of the United States of America.

The film, titled "Barack Obama: People's President", is written, produced and directed by Danny Schechter, who was involved in "Weapons of Mass Deception" and "Viva Madiba: A Hero For All Seasons", which told the tale of Nelson Mandela.

Singh said he was partnering Schechter to produce and direct the film.

Singh also said that negotiations were currently underway with South African and US networks for the broadcast rights.

"The election of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States is historic," Singh said.

"I was in the United States on election day and decided then that we would make a film on the first black and one of the youngest presidents of the United States.

"We are delighted to have partnered with Danny Schechter to produce and direct this film. He documented Nelson Mandela's journey to become the first black president of South Africa in 'Countdown To Freedom', which tracked the ANC's election campaign, culminating with the inauguration of Mandela as president."

Giving details of the documentary, Singh said: "It will show how his campaign mantra of 'Yes We Can' became 'Yes We Did', astonishing Americans and exciting world opinion.

"This is the story of how Obama inspired and organised millions of new voters to support him, and how brilliantly the Internet was used as a communications and networking tool as part of the campaign.

"The film goes inside the grassroots campaign and also speaks with activists, journalists and political leaders like South Africa's Desmond Tutu and Ahmed Kathrada who took Obama to Robben Island."

"I spent decades in commercial news," said director, Danny Schechter, "and I know how superficial coverage can often miss the real story.

"The Obama triumph is much more fascinating than what's been reported in the media. 'Barack Obama: People's President' tells the real story of Obama's journey to the White House with previously unseen footage and interviews," said Schechter, who worked at CNN and ABC NEWS before co-founding Globalvision.

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