''Street Fight'' is a 2005 documentary film by Marshall Curry, chronicling the 2002 Newark mayoral election which pitted upstart

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democ ...

against the incumbent Sharpe James for Mayor of Newark,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Other credits include Rory Kennedy (executive producer), Liz Garbus (executive producer), Mary Manhardt (additional editor), Marisa Karplus (associate producer), Catherine Jones (associate producer), and Adam Etline (story consultant). ''Street Fight'' screened at the 2005

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

and was later aired on the PBS series '' P.O.V.'' on July 5, 2005, and CBC Newsworld in

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on May 7, 2006. The film was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for Best Documentary Feature.

Synopsis

The film details the hard-fought mayoral campaign by a young community activist and

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

member (Booker) against a 16-year

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

mayor (James) with a powerful

political machine In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership c ...

. The documentary follows Booker and several of his campaign workers from their early days of door-knocking on Newark streets through the campaign's dramatic conclusion. Through the course of the film, Booker's living conditions, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, political affiliations, and position in Newark are questioned. From 1998 to 2006, Booker lived in Brick Towers, one of the city's worst public housing buildings, which some accused to be a tactic for acceptance by his constituents. As the election campaigns escalate, Booker receives endorsements from

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an ou ...

, and other prominent African American figures. The movie brings to light many issues plaguing minority communities in Newark and reveals how the city government has failed to acknowledge these issues. The film also raises questions of race and what it means to be "black", as Sharpe James questions Booker's African American heritage and roots to his community. Curry captures on film corrupt attempts by James and city employees, including both police and code enforcement, to sabotage Booker's campaign by using tactics that include shutting down local businesses that hold Booker fundraisers, demoting city workers who support Booker and demolishing Booker signs in violation of a standing order by a

federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level. United States A U.S. federal judge is appointed by the U.S. president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Arti ...

, in what becomes a true urban political "street fight". In one memorable scene, city police assault the documentary maker on a public sidewalk for filming the mayor, breaking the microphone off his camera in broad daylight in front of other journalists.

Aftermath

Booker fell short in his 2002 bid to unseat James. In 2006, James decided not to run for a sixth term of office, and Booker defeated Ronald Rice, winning over 70% of the vote. On July 1, 2006, Booker was sworn in as the 36th Mayor of Newark. Booker went on to become a U.S. Senator for New Jersey. In July 2007, James was indicted on federal charges. He was convicted in 2008 of five counts of fraud and sentenced to 27 months in prison. James continued to serve in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

until January 8, 2008.

Reception

''Street Fight'' was nominated for an

for Best Documentary Feature. It received a 100% fresh rating from

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based on 22 reviews, with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

of 8.08/10. The site's consensus reads: "''Street Fight'' takes an immersive ground-level look at a pivotal political race that proves illuminating, entertaining, and inspiring in equal measure". It also has a score of 85 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, based on 11 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". It was called "extraordinary" by David Denby (''The New Yorker''), "vastly entertaining" by John Anderson (''Variety''), and "filmmaking of the first order" by Scott Foundas (''LA Weekly'').

Awards

, Best Documentary Feature (nominee) *

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story: Long Form (nominee) *

, Audience Award (winner) * Hot Docs Film Festival, Audience Award (winner) * Hot Docs Film Festival, Best International Documentary (winner) *AFI/Discovery Silverdocs Film Festival, Audience Award (winner) * Ashland Independent Film Festival, Best Documentary (winner) *WatchDocs Human Rights International Film Festival, Audience Award (winner) *

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, Award for Excellence in Television (winner) *Cine, Golden Eagle Award (winner) *IDA, Jacqueline Donnet Filmmaker Award (winner) *IDA, Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award (nominee) *Writers Guild of America, Documentary Screenplay Award (nominee) *American Library Association, VRT Notable Videos

References

External links

''Street Fight''
full movie
''Street Fight''
at PBS series '' P.O.V.'' web site
''Street Fight''
entry,