Right America: Feeling Wronged – Some Voices from the Campaign Trail - HBO

A documentary by six-time Emmy nominee Alexandra Pelosi which immediately drew criticism and acclaim from predictable ends of the political spectrum. It's no easy task following up films like The Trials of Ted Haggard and Friends of God, but this interesting, sometimes terrifying insight, does a pretty remarkable job of pointing out what's right, wrong and downright kooky in middle America without taking any cheap shots.

This movie conspicuously lacks the nasty "gotcha documentary" feel of a Michael Moore or Bill Maher film, regardless of what you might hear from conservative commentators. Bill Maher isn't on the hook to be fair and Michael Moore honestly has to pander a bit to his base. Pelosi doesn't have it so easy.

In this film, Alexandra Pelosi (of the well known Pelosi's… yes, those Pelosi's) has to bend over backwards to just to paint a fair picture, if only because she shares the last name with her mother, the first female Democratic Speaker of the House. From the Republican standpoint, you could argue that the Pelosi surname is a double handicap, since it's also synonymous with Democrat impotence in the house, on top of the hurdles it surely caused in the course of shooting the piece.

Synopsis

"In 2008, I followed the McCain campaign across the country to listen to Americans who did not want Barack Obama to be their President. While not representative of the entire Republican Party, these are just some of the party faithful who turned out at campaign rallies along the way."

- Alexandra Pelosi 

For her fifth HBO project, Pelosi visited 28 states and spoke about the fight for the soul of the country with mostly conservative Americans, who feel underrepresented by the mainstream media. From the Pulpit Freedom Day in Bethlehem, Ga. to the NASCAR circuit, Right America: Feeling Wronged - Some Voices From the Campaign Trail shows a country at war with itself over the religious and cultural identities that define America. Many interviewees were particularly incensed by what they saw as a lack of any meaningful media attention given to their message during the election campaign - including their views on such hotly contested issues as gun control, abortion rights, religion and gay rights - and by a perceived media bias against McCain and running mate Sarah Palin. 

"The way the press handles the election, we feel like our side's never being really represented, never really given a fair shake," says one man. "It's almost like they think of us as a bunch of hicks, a bunch of idiots. And they don't even wanna hear our side or understand us." 

"The liberal media is selling the American people short," observes one woman. "That's ridiculous and people should be outraged. And millions and millions of us are." "We're the backbone of this country," says another man. "We're hardworkin,' blue- collared workers that keep this country runnin.' He [Obama] talks like he knows us; he doesn't know us."

Right America: Feeling Wronged - Some Voices From the Campaign Trail is a snapshot of some of the most enthusiastic conservative Americans, once labeled "the silent majority" of the voting American public. Many of them feel so alienated over cultural and political issues that they say they will never trust the new president, the Congress or the media. 

Alexandra Pelosi began her career in TV covering politics in Washington, D.C., and subsequently served as a network news producer for seven years. For her first film, 2000's Emmy®-winning HBO documentary "Journeys with George," she spent 18 months on the campaign trail with future president George W. Bush. For the 2004 HBO documentary "Diary of a Political Tourist," she spent a year and a half following seven Democratic presidential candidates, including John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Howard Dean. Her third film, "Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexandra Pelosi," explored the booming Christian Evangelical movement in America. Her other current project is the HBO documentary "The Trials of Ted Haggard," which debuts Jan. 29 on HBO. Pelosi is the daughter of California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, who became the first female Speaker of the House in 2007.

Right America: Feeling Wronged - Some Voices From the Campaign Trail is directed, produced and filmed by Alexandra Pelosi. For HBO: supervising producer, Lisa Heller; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.