Film phase:Completed
SYNOPSIS
When the free press is swiftly repealed on the eve of an election year for the Muscogee Nation, tenacious Muscogee reporter Angel Ellis fights to bring it back. The election is full of twists and turns, and she refuses to leave the fate of the media to its outcome.
With both humor and unparalleled insight, this documentary probes the inner workings of a modern Native American tribe, revealing its media, sovereignty, and elections with a holistic perspective that few audiences have experienced.
Bad Press is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.
ABOUT THE CO-DIRECTORS AND PRODUCERS
Rebecca Landsberry-Baker (she/her) is an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the executive director of the Native American Journalists Association. Bad Press, her directorial debut, was supported by the Sundance Institute, Ford Foundation JustFilms, NBC, and The Gotham. The film premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the US Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression.
Joe Peeler (he/him) is a Sundance award-winning director and editor whose work has appeared on NETFLIX, HBO, FX, ESPN, Hulu and CBS. Peeler began his career apprenticing under legendary director Peter Bogdanovich, and has edited Lucy Walker’s Academy Awards shortlisted documentary short The Lion’s Mouth Opens; multiple episodes of the Netflix original series Flint Town; and Margaret Brown’s SXSW premiere documentary short, The Black Belt.