The Obama Years: The Power of Words

Mar 9, 2017

0h 51m

★ 10.0

Overview

Barack Obama launched into our national consciousness at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and ever since, he's delivered messages of patriotism, unity, and hope through the power of words. But of all the speeches he's given, six in particular may define his legacy as, in historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's words, "one of the best writers and orators in the presidency." Interviews with eminent historians and key figures in his writing process give rare insights into these iconic speeches, as well as the Obama presidency and the man himself.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Smithsonian Networks

SNI/SI Networks L.L.C

The Obama Years: The Power of Words Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self - Narrator (voice)

Jesse Williams

Self - Senior Advisor to President Obama

David Axelrod

Self - Presidential Historian

Douglas Brinkley

Self - Speechwriter for President Obama

Jon Favreau

Self - Historian

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Self - Senior Advisor to President Obama

Valerie Jarrett

Self - Speechwriter for Ronald Reagan

Clark Judge

Self - Former White House Director of Speechwriting

Cody Keenan

Self - Congressman and Civil Rights Advocate

John Lewis

Self - Curator of Political History for the Smithsonian

Harry Rubenstein

Self (archive footage)

Barack Obama

Luciano lives with his mother and younger sister in a low-income neighborhood in the Argentine city of Rosario. He studies and helps with the housework. Since money is always short, he takes any temporary work he can get to support his family, while he looks for a steady job. After years of spending long hours at the gym, he has managed to see himself in the body he longed for. Life, however, imposes new challenges on him in his relentless journey to pursue his identity.

6.0

Fin de vie : pour que tu aies le choix

Sep 26, 2023

Marina Carrère d'Encausse lifts the veil on the intimate questions that preoccupy her as well as society at large: those related to the end of life. The doctor-journalist introduces Antoine, her partner, who is suffering from Charcot's disease, an incurable illness, and who wishes to choose how he ends his life. Is the current law in France sufficient? Should it simply be better enforced, allowing better access to palliative care? Should assisted suicide and euthanasia be legalized? Marina meets with patients concerned about the end of life, caregivers, and politicians in France, as well as in Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada, countries where euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal.

7.2

Chuy, The Wolf Man

Sep 25, 2015

Jesus 'Chuy' Aceves and a dozen living members of his extended family suffer from the very rare condition of congenital hypertrichosis, meaning they were born with excessive hair on their faces and bodies. Due to their appearance, they suffer from discrimination in all areas of their lives: the children are made fun of at school and abandoned by their 'non-hairy' parents, and the adults cannot find work unless they choose to exhibit themselves as freaks in circuses. This moving and visually arresting documentary is a portrait of Chuy and his family members. It examines their day-to-day lives and their struggle to find love, acceptance and employment.

7.6

Modern Life

Oct 29, 2008

For ten years, Raymond Depardon has followed the lives of farmer living in the mountain ranges. He allows us to enter their farms with astounding naturalness. This moving film speaks, with great serenity, of our roots and of the future of the people who work on the land. This the last part of Depardon's triptych "Profils paysans" about what it is like to be a farmer today in an isolated highland area in France. "La vie moderne" examines what has become of the persons he has followed for ten years, while featuring younger people who try to farm or raise cattle or poultry, come hell or high water.

0.0

In a Film by Allan King

Oct 27, 2024

In 1968, Billy and Antoinette Edwards participated in a landmark documentary that would intimately observe their turbulent relationship. Over 50 years later, their son Bogart sat down to view and discuss the resulting film, A Married Couple.

7.5

Microcosmos

Sep 6, 1996

A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.

8.0

Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age

Sep 9, 2022

This documentary by Léa Clermont-Dion and Guylaine Maroist plunges us into the vortex of online misogyny and documents hatred towards women. This bleak opus, reminiscent of a psychological thriller, follows four women across two continents: former President of the Italian parliament Laura Boldrini, former Democratic representative Kiah Morris, French actor and YouTuber Marion Séclin, and Donna Zuckerberg, a specialist in online violence against women and the sister of Facebook’s founder. This tour de force reveals the devastating effects such unapologetic hatred has on victims, and brings to light the singular objective of cyber-misogyny: to silence women who shine. Some targets of cyber-violence will crumble under the crystallizing force of the click. Others, proud warriors, will stand tall and refuse to be silenced.

5.5

American Factory: A Conversation with the Obamas

Sep 3, 2019

Barack and Michelle Obama talk with the directors of the documentary American Factory about the importance of storytelling and the impact of their film.

8.0

The Lucy Mission: Origins of the Solar System

Jan 3, 2022

For two and a half years we followed the scientific team of the NASA Lucy Mission a mission that will unveil the origins of the Solar System and shared with them the many challenges they had to overcome such as a countdown to launch on time the building of the huge solar arrays or a pandemic.

0.0

Horizon

Jan 3, 2024

"Horizon" explores Earth's diverse ecosystems, beginning in the ocean, showcasing marine life, and moving through the mangroves with scenes of pelicans and flamingos to emphasize conservation efforts. It transitions to the desert, highlighting reintroduction projects for species like gazelles and ostriches, then ascends into the mountains to document vultures, ibex, and the Arabian leopard. The film concludes with coral reef preservation efforts using 3D scanning technology at King Abdullah University, underscoring the importance of protecting interconnected habitats.

No Image Available

0.0

Why So Serious?

Oct 28, 2024

A brand new interview with Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman director Koji Shiraishi.

0.0

Kier-La Janisse on Cockfighter

Oct 25, 2024

The author of Cockfight: A Fable of Failure recounts her long history with Monte Hellman’s Cockfighter (1974), which is effectively illegal to screen in the UK due to staged scenes of the titular blood sport.

8.0

Younost, une jeunesse russe

Oct 29, 2024

No overview available.

3.0

Born to Be

Sep 28, 2019

Soon after New York state passed a 2015 law that health insurance should cover transgender-related care and services, director Tania Cypriano and producer Michelle Hayashi began bringing their cameras behind the scenes at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, where this remarkable documentary captures the emotional and physical journey of surgical transitioning. Lending equal narrative weight to the experiences of the center’s groundbreaking surgeon Dr. Jess Ting and those of his diverse group of patients, BORN TO BE perfectly balances compassionate personal storytelling and fly-on-the-wall vérité. It’s a film of astonishing access—most importantly into the lives, joys, and fears of the people at its center.

5.2

The Water Map

Nov 9, 2024

The Water Map is an essayistic journey through the ethnography and landscapes of the Region of Murcia. These places are in the process of disappearing due to the increasing and abundant agricultural exploitation. Water has marked the territory and the culture of the area, and with its disappearance, the memories of four characters fade away.

0.0

Destruction of the Berlin Wall

Nov 9, 2014

Filmed in Berlin, July 1990. Images of workers taking down the wall and street peddlers selling pieces of it to make a living.

8.4

Bringing Godzilla Down to Size: The Art of Japanese Special Effects

Aug 3, 2008

A look at the unrecognized work of the talented artists and craftsmen who've maintained the tradition of Japanese special-effects. Highlighted is Yasuyuki Inoue along with various crew members who crafted meticulously detailed miniatures and risked life and limb as suit actors. All done to bring to life some of film's most iconic monsters through a distinct Japanese artform.