Al Franken ‘God Spoke’ At Sag Harbor Cinema

Sag Harbor Cinema’s first year-round retrospective, dedicated to the work of D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, draws to a close with a special screening of “Al Franken: God Spoke.” A conversation with Al Franken and the filmmakers Chris Hegedus and Nick Doob will take place after the 6 p.m. screening on Saturday, June 4.

Set on the backdrop of Franken’s book tour for “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them” and following him through the launch of Air America Radio network and the 2004 election campaign, the film maps Franken’s path from comedy to politics.

“Like Pennebaker and Hegedus’s ‘The War Room,’ ‘Al Franken: God Spoke’ brings us, like a fly on the wall, inside the machine of politics and the machine of entertainment and exposes their interdependence and contradictions through Franken’s unique experience from ‘Saturday Night Live’ to the road that led to Congress,” said Sag Harbor Cinema’s Artistic Director Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan. “I am thrilled he will be with us, together with the filmmakers to discuss the film and the journey.”

The Village Voice’s Rob Nelson remarked about “Al Franken: God Spoke,” “The film is most compelling for its suggestion of how politics and showbiz are at once incestuously entwined and, perhaps, irreconcilably different.”

Tickets for the screening are available at sagharborcinema.org. Sag Harbor Cinema is at 90 Main Street, Sag Harbor.

“Al Franken: God Spoke”

Dirs. Chris Hegedus and Nick Doob

USA, 2006; 90 mins, in English

When Al Franken receives a message from God that he should take on the political right, he hangs up his Stuart Smalley wig and picks up his flaming sword of justice to go after the Bush administration and the media wonks who do its bidding.

From his USO tour in Iraq, to the studios of liberal radio network Air America and on the campaign trail, filmmakers Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus are granted entry to one of the most effective political satirists of our time. Franken fearlessly confronts pundits and politicians, blurring the boundaries between political satire and impassioned citizenry.

Featuring a host of beltway pundits and politicians including Ann Coulter, Michael Moore, Al Gore, John Kerry, Robert Kennedy Jr., Sean Hannity, William Safire, Karen Hughes and Henry Kissinger, the film is a hilarious look behind the front lines of the media wars during the most contentious election in recent history. But ultimately, the film is a personal drama of transformation, as Al Franken leaves his comedy days behind and moves from his seat in the sidelines to become a contender inside the political ring.

– Pennebaker Hegedus Films