Stream the full movie on Vimeo's on-demand service ($5.99 to rent and view; $12.99 to purchase).
If you didn't know of this cinematic gem's existence, check out the trailer below, full of some of Traficant's greatest and most quotable moments, for a taste (fyi: it'll probably have you scurrying to rent the whole movie immediately).
TRAFICANT: The Congressman of Crimetown from Steel Valley Films on Vimeo.
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(Original story 10/17/14): The trailer and initial Kickstarter campaign for Jim Traficant: the Congressman of Crimetown made its first appearance back in November 2011. It looked fabulous and clearly there was no more suitable subject for a documentary than Jim Traficant, the bombastic, disgraced and polarizing politician with the weed-cutter haircut (read: toupee).
With Traficant's recent death, the film's directors and producers are very close to finishing the project, albeit with a different ending than they had imagined just a month ago. So they're back to Kickstarter looking for some funds to put the cap on what looks to be a fabulous project. They'll be submitting to Sundance and other film festivals.
9/23/14 - After working relentlessly since filming began in 2009, I made a DVD of my feature documentary, Traficant: The Congressman of Crimetown, for submission to the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. In Youngstown and LA, respectively, my producer Jeff Alberini and I celebrated this benchmark.
Later that same evening, around 8pm, Jim Traficant flipped his vintage tractor in an accident that would eventually cost him his life. In that moment, we inherited a deeper responsibility and mission.
Truth be told, we had been prepping this Kickstarter campaign the week before Traficant's passing and decided to hit the pause button.
Now, we feel the time is appropriate to ask for your support. We need your help to finish up this decade long endeavor. We're currently crafting a new ending given the circumstances and buttoning up remaining details.
