Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner, The

This Oscar -nominated documentary is both a poignant profile of former Gov. Booth Gardner as he battles the physical and mental onslaught of Parkinson's Disease, and an exploration of the contentious debate between proponents and foes of Initiative 1000, a controversial bill championed by Gardner that put assisted suicide to a vote in the State of Washington during the 2008 election. Filmmaker Daniel Junge (HBO's They Killed Sister Dorothy) and his team were given exclusive access to the former governor at his home near Tacoma and around the state during the campaign; Junge also follows opponents to I-1000, including Eileen Geller and Duane French, who argue passionately against passage of the bill, sometimes in the company of Gardner himself, in the weeks leading up to the vote. The result is an intimate, compassionate re-examination of the topic of legalized suicide, as well as the political process that must be followed when attempting to change America's laws.

• documentary
• drama