The Shame of a City
The Shame of a City is a 2006 feature-length documentary directed by Tigre Hill about the final month of the 2003 Philadelphia Mayoral Election. During that election, incumbent Democrat John Street sought to defeat his Republican challenger Sam Katz. Philadelphia is predominantly Democratic, but early polls showed Katz with a small lead. Twenty-seven days prior to the election, the FBI revealed that it was investigating Street for corruption, but polls showed that the public supported Street "more" after the scandal broke. Hill attempts to investigate how Street turned the corruption scandal into an  advantage. The film is named after Lincoln Steffens’ 1904 book, "The Shame of the Cities", which sought to expose the wrongdoing of public officials in cities across the United States. Plot summary. Twenty-seven days before the election, an FBI bug was found in the mayor’s office. When asked about the bug, the FBI admitted that Street was under investigation. The discovery at first seemed like a death knell to the Street campaign and a near certain victory for Katz. But Street and his supporters argued that the FBI investigation was an instance of institutional racial prejudice, polarizing the  campaign. Moreover, Street successfully reoriented the campaign away from local issues and towards a referendum on the locally-unpopular, Republican-controlled federal government. As a result, Street won re-election by a sixteen-point margin even as his closest supporters were indicted. Media attention. The film won “Best Feature-Length Film” at the 2006 Philadelphia Film Festival's Festival of Independents and was reviewed positively by the "Philadelphia Inquirer". "Shame of a City" would be shown at—among other places—the National Constitution Center, and be referenced by name in five successive issues of "Philadelphia" magazine. Hill was interviewed on  MSNBC about the documentary. Political impact. The timing of the documentary's initial release benefited reform-minded city council member Michael Nutter, who was attempting to succeed Street as the Democratic nominee for mayor. Nutter's primary opponents were Congressmen Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah, two Street supporters portrayed negatively in Hill’s movie. After receiving Hill’s endorsement, Nutter himself screened "The Shame of a City" five times to sold-out audiences, using it to raise money and awareness. The DVD release was also timed to coincide with the primary election cycle, reminding voters of the previous elections' controversies . Although he began as underdog, Nutter would eventually win the May 2007 (Democratic) primary and then defeat his (Republican) opponent in the general election. "The Shame of a City" also provided an introduction to a Katz campaign consultant, Carl Singley, whose strongly positive appearance in the movie briefly made him the focus of an early, informal city-wide campaign for him to run for mayor. Singley declined to run.