Charles Booker Documentary to Premiere in November

A documentary film based that followed Charles Booker’s failed 2020 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate will premiere next month in St. Louis.

The film, From the Hood to the Holler, is an account of Booker’s campaign and it carries the same name as an upcoming book by Booker. The film is executive produced by actor Michael Shannon, a Lexington native, and by actress Alyssa Milano.

The film is a “firsthand account” that follows Booker and his 2020 campaign’s connection to the Black Lives Matter movement in Kentucky, protests following the death of Breonna Taylor by Louisville Metro Police, and through the pandemic. The film also promises to show the support for Booker, who nearly defeated the better funded Amy McGrath in the Democratic primary. The film is essentially a lead up to the kick off of the 2022 Senate campaign against U.S. Sen. Rand Paul.

The film is from director Pat McGee, who told Realscreen, he was attracted to Booker’s campaign because it was bigger than an election, it was “the beginning of a movement.”

“There’s a million different candidates that have similar policies and platforms,” McGee told the website. “I think one of the things that really attracted me to his story is that it wasn’t just a story about his campaign, but it was a story about a man becoming a leader, [and] also a movement that was really growing in the streets and it was growing in the hood…”

The film will premiere as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival’s “Human Rights Spotlight” on November 7, 2021.