kviff.com
News
Festival Guide
  • Tickets and Festival Pass
  • Accommodations
  • Transportation
  • Festival cinemas
  • No Barriers project
  • Kids at the festival
  • Festival Shop
Program
  • Catalogue of films
  • Accompanying programme
  • Archive of films
  • Audience award
  • KVIFF Talks
  • Film Entry
Film Industry
  • Industry accreditation
  • Film Industry at KVIFF
  • Industry Days Programme
  • KVIFF Eastern Promises
  • KVIFF Talents
Press
  • Press accreditation
  • Press Service
  • For download
  • Press releases
  • Photogallery
  • Videogallery
About the festival
  • Festival description
  • Programme sections
  • Awards
  • History
  • We support non-profits
  • Photogallery
  • Partners
  • Why We Support the Festival
  • Contacts
CZ
Sign in
Film Archive

War Room

Forum of Independents - Competition 2006 / War Room / USA 1993

The War Room was the name for Bill Clinton’s campaign center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Though the press weren’t usually permitted inside, filmmakers D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus managed to secure partial access and shot nearly 35 hours of footage there. The result is a behind-the-scenes view of the political campaign in the modern age.

War Room

Synopsis

The War Room was the name for Bill Clinton’s campaign center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Although the press weren’t usually permitted inside this small warren of chaos, filmmakers D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus managed to secure partial access and shot nearly 35 hours of footage there. At the center of The War Room are the two men who guided Clinton’s ship from the beginning: James Carville, the fiery, charismatic Cajun who manages the campaign with a mixture of Southern charm and unrelenting passion; and George Stephanopoulos, the brilliant, handsome Rhodes scholar who, as communications director, calmly but surely mobilizes his staff. The War Room is a compelling and enlightening adventure story about two remarkable men and about the monumental effort, determination and chutzpah required to conduct and win a political campaign in the modern age.

About the film

96 min / Color, 35 mm

Director Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker / Screenplay D. A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus / Dir. of Photography Nick Doob, D. A. Pennebaker, Kevin Rafferty / Editor Chris Hegedus, Erez Laufer, D. A. Pennebaker / Producer R. J. Cutler, Wendy Ettinger, Frazer Pennebaker / Production Pennebaker Associates / Cast James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, Collier Andress, Heather Beckel, Paul Begala, Bob Boorstin, Jerry Brown, Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, George Bush / Contact Pennebaker Hegedus Films

About the director

Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker

Chris Hegedus (b. 1952), director, editor, cinematographer, producer, began co-directing with D. A. Pennebaker in the mid-seventies. She has since partnered him on a host of acclaimed films, including 1993’s The War Room, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary. Chris Hegedus was awarded the prestigious 2002 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentaries for Startup.com. Most recently Hegedus completed a film about political satirist Al Franken, Al Franken: God Spoke. Films as director: Energy War (1977), Town Bloody Hall (1979), DeLorean (1981), Rockaby (1983), Jimi Plays Monterey (1986), 101 (1989), Jimi Hendrix Live (1989), The Music Tells You (1992), Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock (1992), The War Room (1993), Keine Zeit (1996), Moon Over Broadway (1997), Down from the Mountain (2000), Startup.com (2001), Only the Strong Survive (2003), Al Franken: God Spoke (2006).

Contacts

Pennebaker Hegedus Films
, , New York
United States of America
Phone: +1 212 496 9195
Fax: +1 212 496 8195
E-mail: [email protected]

Guests

Tanja Meding
Producer

Anikah McLaren
Buyer

Chris Hegedus
Film Director

D.A. Pennebaker
Film Director

Other partners
Newsletter

First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.

Follow us on the web:

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
is part of the KVIFF Group family, which covers other projects as well:

© 2025 KVIFF GROUP

Rules for Visitors / Website visitors privacy policy / GTC / Personal Data Protection / Rules for Claim / Rules and Regulations / Contacts