Makers Of Palin Film Scouting Iowa Premiere Venues
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The filmmaker behind a new documentary on Republican Sarah Palin said Friday his team is scouting Iowa farms, town squares and other casual settings for the upcoming premiere of "The Undefeated," a movie that has contributed to fresh speculation about her 2012 plans.
Stephen Bannon said he wants to debut the film somewhere that captures the "Iowa-ness of it all" and connects it to the message of populist "grit and tenacity" he's delivering about Palin. It traces Palin's life from before she became Alaska governor past her GOP campaign for the vice presidency and aims to explain how she became a face for the tea party movement.
Bannon insisted in an interview with The Associated Press that Palin had no creative or editorial role in making the film, and he didn't even seek interviews with her during filming. Her voice is represented through news clips and an audio version of her autobiography. Palin had a private screening in Arizona, he said.
Bannon said plans for debuting it in coming weeks in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina -- all presidential nominating contest battlegrounds -- is about building movie buzz and not coordinated with any possible Palin presidential bid.
"We don't have anything to do with her politics," Bannon said. "It was very important for this film not to be dismissed as propaganda for Palin."
During a bus tour of East Coast historical sites a few weeks ago, Palin said she was "still kind of contemplating" a presidential campaign and gave herself no timetable for deciding.
Bannon was scheduled to hold a special screening of his two-hour film for a convention of conservative bloggers Friday night in Minneapolis.
The RightOnline conference is occurring opposite the Netroots Nation gathering of left-leaning bloggers down the street. Netroots includes speeches by leading Democratic officials from Congress, the White House and liberal groups.
Three GOP presidential candidates are set to address RightOnline on Saturday: Rep. Michele Bachmann, businessman Herman Cain and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
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