The War Room
The War Room • 1h 36m
Directed by Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker • 1993 • United States
The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House—and changed the face of politics in the process. For this thrilling, behind-closed-doors account of that campaign, renowned cinema verité filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker captured the brainstorming and bull sessions of Clinton’s crack team of consultants—especially James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, who became media stars in their own right as they injected a savvy, youthful spirit and spontaneity into the process of campaigning. Fleet-footed and entertaining, THE WAR ROOM is a vivid document of a political moment whose truths (“It’s the economy, stupid!”) still ring in our ears.
Up Next in The War Room
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William J. Clinton Foundation Panel, ...
In 2011, the William J. Clinton Foundation hosted a discussion in Arkansas to mark the twentieth anniversary of Clinton’s candidacy for president. In the following excerpts from that event, veterans of the campaign discuss the trials of New Hampshire, and an unexpected audience member—President C...
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Return of the War Room
In Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker’s 2008 follow-up feature to THE WAR ROOM, advisers James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, and Mary Matalin, among others, reflect on the revolutionary 1992 campaign. In addition, Mark McKinnon and Frank Luntz, members of the new generation of campaign operati...
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Making THE WAR ROOM
In this interview, shot in 2011, THE WAR ROOM directors Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker and producers R. J. Cutler and Wendy Ettinger discuss the process of gaining access to, and then filming, a presidential campaign.
