Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her “Knock Down the House” director, Rachel Lears, may be teaming up on another timely documentary. According to Axios, the pair are “in talks” to collaborate on a doc about Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal policy movement.
AOC launched the Green New Deal with Senator Edward J. Markey earlier this year. It’s a sweeping congressional resolution outlining how the U.S. can combat climate change, from decreasing dependence on fossil fuels to creating new jobs in clean energy industries.
No word on whether Lears’ Green New Deal project will end up at Netflix, which scooped up “Knock Down the House” in the biggest doc deal in the history of the Sundance Film Festival.
“Knock Down the House” won The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary at Sundance this year. The film follows AOC and three other women running for political office for the first time. Since its Sundance debut, the feature went on to screen at SXSW, Full Frame, and Hot Docs, among other fests.
When we asked Lears what she wants audiences to think about after seeing the doc, she said, “‘Knock Down the House’ is a film about hope that challenges the narratives that create cynicism and despair. The film is ultimately about power and how to build it in yourself and in the world, and what it takes to make the politically impossible possible.” She continued, “I want viewers to think about what it would mean for our democracy to have more courageous working people with integrity representing us in government, running on bold agendas that would create a more just and equitable country.”
Lears previously directed 2014’s“The Hand That Feeds,” an Emmy-nominated documentary about undocumented immigrants who take on a New York restaurant chain for abusive working conditions.
AOC is currently serving her first term in Congress. She became a household name when she won the primary for New York’s 14th congressional district last year, beating longtime incumbent Joe Crowley in a shocking upset. Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive platform includes Medicare For All, abolishing ICE, free tuition for public colleges and trade schools, and a larger tax rate for the rich.
