To make Election Day, filmmaker Katy Chevigny fielded 14 crews to capture the action on November 2, 2004, all over the country. Election Day is as fast-paced and suspenseful as a thriller, with vote counts and political activism substituting for shootouts and car chases. The heroes of the day are ordinary Americans determined to vote, to turn out others to vote, and to see that the voting is legally and fairly done.
In our interview with Katy, she tells us that she wants viewers to get involved after watching the film:
What I’m hoping people will take away from seeing the film is that there are a lot of different things going on in our electoral process. People care about voting, and there are thousands of volunteer poll workers working long hours during every election because they believe in our country, and they believe in democracy. But our election system isn’t as good as it could be.
I hope that after watching Election Day, viewers understand that we could have a better system. But improving our election system is not going to happen on its own; people would need to get involved to reform the system so that everyone gets an opportunity for their vote to be counted.
Read more from Katy’s interview, find out about the technical challenges involved with melding 11 stories into a coherent film in her Production Journal or listen to our extended podcast interview.
Do you have a question for Katy about Election Day and the American election system? You can submit it in the comment field below. She’ll choose a selection of questions to respond to, so check back here after the film airs to see what she has to say.