Documentary - Raise Hell

Doing the rounds of the  festival circuit just now, Raise Hell tells the story of media firebrand Molly Ivins. Watch the trailer...

“Polarizing people is a good way to win an election, and also a good way to wreck a country.”

Molly Ivins was "six feet of Texas trouble" who took on the Good Old Boy corruption wherever she found it. She was one of the most courageous journalists of modern times… and also one of the funniest.

Often compared to Mark Twain and Will Rogers, this tall Texan used her razor-sharp wit to speak truth to power while giving a voice to those who didn’t have one. To quote President Bill Clinton: “When she writes some-thing good about you it’s the best thing in the world, when she writes something bad it’s almost as good.”

Molly was a trailblazer for female journalists. At the height of her popularity, nearly 400 papers carried her column. She appeared on national television and radio, lectured all over the country and encouraged her constituents to raise hell and fight for freedom. Molly quenched the thirst of a populace who, isolated by geography and politics, knew they were not alone when they heard her voice. A fighter against injustice until the very end, breast cancer took Ivins out of the game way too soon.

Interviews with colleagues like Dan Rather, Rachel Maddow, Paul Krugman, Anne Lamott, Ben Barnes, Jim Hightower, Victor Navasky, Cecile Richards and many more shed light on the “unholy alliance” between modern politics and media, define responsible journalism and prove how relevant Molly’s Civics 101 is today.



Image - IMDb