When Rachel Lears was chronicling the election campaigns of four progressive Democrats trying to upend the status quo she was very aware that all of the primary candidates could lose their races. Amy Vilela was trying to earn the nomination for a Las Vegas area congressional seat long controlled by the vaunted Harry Reid machine. Cori Bush was attempting to overcome one family’s hold on a St. Louis congressional seat for almost 50 years. Paula Jean Swearengin was trying to knock off incumbent red state senator Joe Manchin and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the first primary challenger against Congressman Joe Crowley in fourteen years. That was a lot of establishment to fight against and there was no guarantee “Knock Down The House” would have a happy ending until it surprisingly did.
READ MORE: Watch the trailer for “Knock Down The House”
Lears, who directed, co-wrote, co-shot and co-produced “Knock” on a shoestring budget, has been going non-stop since the film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Netflix for an impressive $10 million. She sat down to talk to the Four Quadrant podcast about the challenges of making the documentary, each candidate’s struggles, how to “end” the movie and the realization her inspiring creation it will soon be heard in 27 different languages.
[Please note: We’re working with some new mics and the audio is a bit rough for the first minute or so but it cleans up well after that.]
You can listen to this episode in the Soundcloud embed below or on iTunes. If you do listen on iTunes please rate, subscribe and share it with your friends!
For more movie and awards insight follow me on Twitter @TheGregoryE.
Follow my Instagram stories at @gregel17 on Instagram.
