Through an aquaintance, filmmaker Penny Lane came across a real treasure hidden away in an American archive: hours of amateur footage of Richard Nixon during his presidency, shot by three of his closest staff.
Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, advisor John Ehrlichman and assistant Dwight Chapin were all enthusiastic amateur filmmakers, and recorded their work in the White House and much further afield for posterity on Super-8 film, even including a historic visit to Communist China (Nixon was the first US president to go there).
Lane was able to have the film digitised thanks to a campaign on the Kickstarter crowd-funding platform, and plans to make the entire archive available online.
Although it also includes unique personal footage (such as the wedding of Nixon’s daughter), Lane’s film mainly follows the political story: from Nixon’s inauguration in 1969 to his resignation in 1974 after the Watergate scandal – as a result of which all three amateur filmmakers were convicted.
Film details
- Country of production
- USA
- Year
- 2013
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2013
- Length
- 85'
- Medium/Format
- HDcam
