By Maria Arita (creator/director of Barack Obama: The Man and His Journey)
(from the 2009 Sundance Film Festival)

There I was, the evening of the Iowa primaries during the 2008 presidential election, sitting on my living room couch, alone, and this is what I heard:

Barack Obama, January 3, 2008: "(Tonight) we came together as Democrats, Republicans and Independents...as one nation...This was the moment when we tore down barriers...when we finally gave Americans who have never participated in politics a reason to stand up and to do so...This was the moment when we finally beat back the policies of fear and doubts...Years from now, you'll look back and you'll say that this was the moment...where America remembered what it means to hope."

Emotion set in as I took in the crowd of people - a kaleidoscope of color; rich, poor, young and old - crying, chanting, "Yes we can!" I wondered how a simple speech could cause me to think and feel so many things: my duty and the immense possibilities for our nation. Were we witnessing the emergence of a new leader who could, through his words and innate political wisdom, bring about sweeping change? Would we be looking back years from now, remembering this as "that defining moment" when we all said, "Yes we can," and took up the mantle of our own individual causes?

But was it possible? Could an African American be elected to the highest office in the land and was he the real thing? I was a news anchor for a top five CBS O&O at the time. My duty was to report the truth. March saw a litany of problems for Obama: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers and an opposition narrative against him being played out on a 24-hour loop. We began to assemble a team of experts, both academic and in film and business, to answer those questions; thus the founding of Veridicus Films, LLC. We spoke to those who'd known and worked with Obama closely over the years, who seemed to know the real story behind Obama (on both sides of the aisle), and they all had one common message.

The more knowledge we gained about Obama's legislative track record and the man, the more determined we were to reveal the truth. As a Latina, a newly naturalized citizen and journalist, I had a craving to use my voice for the better good. My husband, an African American and child of the '60s, found a profuse clarity about himself, his experiences and dreams through interviews like the one with MLK Jr., and decided this was a story that had to be told well. We were determined to do it despite all conventional wisdom and advice to the contrary.

Director Maria Arita

We were watching a movement - children in ghettos and suburbs, alike - of all races and ages rallying their parents and grandparents to think out of the box. And they were listening. It was a banal chant we'd all heard before: hope, faith and you can do anything. This time hope was spreading, rippling outward to a larger world beyond our borders. We were inspired by the voices of academics whose only objective was to educate, and politicos who'd grown tired of the wicked Washington manipulations. Their stories poured from their lips and through our camera lens!

In the words of Robert Kennedy: "Each time a man stands for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others...he sends a tiny ripple of hope...those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." As with the soaring oratory and political wisdom of leaders like JFK, RFK, FDR and MLK, we were captivated by Obama's ability to rip down new walls by words in defense of honor and progressive change. It was a turning of the other cheek. A new leader was defying the odds and setting a precedent with a 21st Century campaign built on the promise of a new America. We documented every salient moment of it.

If Obama were the real thing and could successfully stand on a platform of decency and service, if he would not turn away from those principles, and if he succeeded in doing that with the intellect and demeanor of a statesman and win, we wanted to capture it. It's what caused my husband, a newly naturalized citizen and newsperson, to retire from a 30-year career with IBM with the confidence that this new project was worth putting everything we had into, and our partner, Ken Eaken (a staunch Republican white guy), to say, "This is pretty special; let's do it."

With no prior filmmaking experience, no money and few resources, we managed to rip down a few walls, too. Within three weeks, we traveled to eight cities and conducted more than 30 interviews with luminaries, politicos, celebrities and everyday Americans. We raised the money needed to produce the first full-length film about Barack Obama and his personal journey, and secured domestic and international distribution in the following three months. Inspired by a movement and millions of voices, we found our voices. Our hope is that Barack Obama: The Man and His Journey will become a source of inspiration to many, and that it will live on in classrooms - so we never forget what is truly possible if "the people" think it should be so. -MPM

Photos courtesy of the filmmaker.