American Blackout

Although it purports to document the systematic disenfranchisement of African-American voters in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, music-video director Ian Inaba's American Blackout ends up offering plenty of conspiracy theories without much in the way of concrete, actionable evidence to back them up. In addition, the film sacrifices credibility by lionizing discredited, recently unseated Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who was by any objective measure one of the House's most radical and fiercely partisan members (McKinney, you may recall, assaulted a Capitol Hill policeman and then claimed she was set up). While the subject of disenfranchisement is both a serious and legitimate concern, Inaba reveals a clear ideological bias here with his reliance on testimony only from progressive journalists and politicos, among them John Conyers, Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, and avowed socialist Bernie Sanders. The resulting lack of balance makes it hard for the viewer to accept as reasonable even those conclusions that seem very plausible, resulting in a film that comes off as more of a left-wing love letter to the MoveOn.org crowd than a sober, objective examination of an important issue. DVD extras include interviews with Capitol Hill police officers regarding the McKinney incident, deleted scenes, and a 19-minute abridged version of the film. Considering likely interest, this is still a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (E. Hulse)