Pan and Slam

Street Fight (2005)

by Jason Koenigsberg

With the 2016 Presidential Election coming up on Tuesday, there is no better time than right now to catch up on your favorite political movies. For my Streaming Pick of the Week I chose a film that is back on Netflix at a most appropriate time. Marshall Curry’s 2005 documentary Street Fight chronicles the  dirty politics of the Newark mayoral race between the incumbent Sharpe James against the up and coming idealistic Cory Booker. The two candidates are both African-American and both want the same thing but could not be any more different. Sharpe James is like a Boss Tweed Political Machine who has been around forever and displays an uneasy paranoia when near the camera. Cory Booker is more media friendly and represents the modern 21st century politician who uses the camera to his benefit. Since this film was made, Booker was the mayor of Newark and has since become a Senator for New Jersey. Sharpe James has disappeared and is probably hanging out with former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin somewhere. Street Fight makes campaigning on the inner city streets seem as brutal as serving on the front lines of a battlefield. It is a riveting documentary that frighteningly illustrates what goes on in many political elections and there is no more appropriate time to watch Street Fight than right now. 

Street Fight is available to stream on Netflix.