“THE PASSIONS AND POLITICS OF ED EDELMAN: AN UNTOLD STORY OF LEADERSHIP IN LOS ANGELES” SUN. JAN 20
Film Narrated by NBC Newsman Tom Brokaw
COSTA MESA, Calif. (January 11, 2013) – PBS SoCaL will televise the premiere of “The Passions and Politics of Ed Edelman: An Untold Story of Leadership in Los Angeles” on Sunday, January 20, at 5 p.m. Produced by his wife, Mari Edelman, and narrated by NBC newsman Tom Brokaw, the film is an intimate documentary about an unabashedly liberal politician’s journey through a tumultuous, booming era in Los Angeles history.
Edmund D. Edelman was a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1965 to 1974 and the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors from 1975 to 1994. “The Passions and Politics of Ed Edelman” features political friends and foes describing Edelman’s causes, leadership style and achievements ranging from government and policing reforms, to civil rights, juvenile justice and human services, HIV/AIDS, land conservation, transportation and infrastructure, as well as music and cultural activities in the city.
Edelman, 83, who assisted in the film despite living with a rapidly degenerative form of Parkinson’s disease, offers snippets of insight and political philosophy as the montage of television clips, photographs, and commentators brings Los Angeles to life as it was in the last four decades of the last century.
“There are two things you can do with power that are bad,” Edelman reflects in the film. “The first is to abuse it. The second is not to use it.”
The portrait of Edelman that emerges is that of a serious, astute, quietly forceful reformer navigating from a contentiously conservative political culture into a more diverse and challenging urban landscape. The film captures a steady sequence of enduring policy achievements engineered and mediated by Edelman as an atypically conciliatory and civil city councilman and county supervisor, often beyond the headlines. It is something of a primer on power and politics and getting things done in a modern, changing city.
CONTACTS:
SWPR Group 818-760-7131
Bonnie Winings / Barry Smith
bwinings@swprgroup.com / bsmith@swprgroup.com
About PBS SoCaL
PBS SoCaL, formerly KOCE-TV, is Southern California’s PBS station dedicated to interactively educating, entertaining, and enlightening the greater Los Angeles area. With its three unique broadcast channels. PBS SoCaL HD, PBS OC, and WORLD TV, PBS SoCaL provides award-winning programs like Frontline, NewsHour, NOVA, Nature, and Masterpiece, as well as local productions Real Orange, SoCaL Insider With Rick Reiff, and Bookmark With Maria Hall-Brown. Through community outreach initiatives including PBS SoCaL Education, PBS SoCaL provides local schools access to new media materials that engage students in 21st century learning. Explore the future of PBS in Southern California at www.pbssocal.org.
