IndieWire and FilmStruck’s ‘Movies That Inspire Me’: Roger Ross Williams and How ‘The War Room’ Changed Politics

As part of our ongoing partnership with FilmStruck, we’re celebrating Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker’s thrilling inside look at Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, “The War Room.”

Oscar-winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams, who’s now on the 2017 documentary shortlist for “Life, Animated,” said he’s still shocked by the directors’ unprecedented access to a campaign that “got really dirty.”

READ MORE:IndieWire and FilmStruck’s ‘Movies That Inspire Me’: Jody Hill Looks at Roman Polanski’s Debut, ‘Knife in the Water’

“It was the first time we really got to see warts-and-all of a campaign and the sort-of brilliance of the strategists who are real stars of that film,” said Williams in the clip below.

READ MORE: IndieWire and FilmStruck’s ‘Movies That Inspire Me’: Nicole Holofcener Explains How ‘High Hopes’ Earns Its Title

“The War Room” is available on FilmStruck, as are other Pennebaker docs including “Don’t Look Back,” “Adventures on the New Frontier,” and “Jimi Plays Monterey.”

“Movies That Inspire Me,” which features conversations with Sundance Film Festival directors about their favorite FilmStruck titles from the Turner Classic Movies and Criterion Collection, will continue regularly throughout the month of December here on IndieWire.

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