The Campaign

The year is 1996. Digital cameras are considered a luxury and mobile phones still have antennas. There is no social media. Google is a PhD research project. YouTube and Facebook are a decade away. So how different were election campaigns back then? How much have concepts such as “spin” and “news cycles” changed with the information revolution? The answer may surprise you. Twenty-two years ago, controversial Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating hit the hustings in an attempt to win an historic third term in office. Following his every step across the continent over 35 days and 40,000 km was a film crew made up of one man and a small camcorder. The Campaign not only lays bare the logistics, strategies and challenges of an electoral odyssey, it is a wry, stark and dispassionate illustration of Australia’s unique political arena. This political documentary is from the makers of the hit satirical dramas Frontline, The Hollowmen and Utopia.