Street Fight (film)

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Street Fight
Promotional poster for Street Fight
Directed by	Marshall Curry
Produced by	Marshall Curry
Written by	Marshall Curry
Distributed by	Marshall Curry Productions
Release date(s)	2005
Running time	83 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

Street Fight is an Academy Award-nominated documentary about Cory Booker's ultimately unsuccessful 2002 run against Sharpe James for mayor of Newark, New Jersey by filmmaker Marshall Curry. Other credits include: Rory Kennedy (Executive Producer), Liz Garbus (Executive Producer), Mary Manhardt (Additional Editor), Marisa Karplus (Associate Producer), and Adam Etline (Story Consultant).

The film details the hard-fought mayoral campaign by a young community activist and City Council member against a 16-year incumbent mayor with a powerful political machine. 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. Toward the end, Curry captures it all on film as Mayor Sharpe James' city employees, including police and "code enforcement," are harnessed to shut down the local businesses that hold Booker fundraisers, demote city workers who support Booker, demolish Booker signs, and so on, in what becomes a true urban political "street fight."

Street Fight screened at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival and was later aired on the PBS series P.O.V. on July 5, 2005, and CBC Newsworld in Canada on May 7, 2006.

[edit] Aftermath

Booker fell short in his 2002 bid to unseat incumbent Sharpe 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. James still serves in the New Jersey Senate.