"I don't know anyone here," she whispered. "I'm not sure that they're going to like this movie."

She was referring to her new documentary, Diary of a Political Tourist, which chronicles a year in the life of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. With the support of the Georgetown University Main Campus Library, HBO and Time Warner, the Georgetown Entertainment & Media Alliance (GEMA) organized a reception and screening of Pelosi's film for GEMA members and guests. Over 150 people attended the October 14 screening which was followed by an on-stage conversation and Q & A session with CNN National Correspondent Kelly Wallace.

Filmed as the follow-up to her Emmy-award winning documentary, Journeys with George, Pelosi's latest film was the ideal choice for GEMA members, a perfect distillation of politics, media and entertainment, said Neil McGinness (C '90), GEMA East Coast Director.

"Coming on the heels of the final presidential debate, and three weeks before the election, we thought this was the perfect way to get members out and together," he said. "We also thought people would like to see the new Time Warner building. It's pretty impressive."

Mia Carbonell, (SLL '89), Director of Corporate Communications at Time Warner Inc. was instrumental in organizing the event. "It was a great opportunity for Time Warner to welcome to its new headquarters this important group in the New York media circles," she said.

Members and their guests mingled at a reception in the screening room lobby beforehand. Pelosi, the daughter and sister of three Georgetown alumni and daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.), graciously shook hands and made conversation, but was a bit weary from the film tour.

"My whole family went to Georgetown, which is part of why I wanted to do this screening," Pelosi said, leaning in. "That's why this is so weird to me. These Georgetown people already know all this presidential stuff. But lots of people don't."

Before the film, Pelosi was introduced by both McGinness and GEMA Membership Director Al Periu (MSB '01), who announced that the relatively new East Coast chapter had officially surpassed its western counterpart's membership numbers, totaling close to 350 of GEMA's almost 1000 members.

Pelosi introduced her film as the "dummy's guide on how to run for president."

"Every four years in America, there's this really bizarre hazing ritual that a handful of men and women go through," she said. "Like going to the Iowa State Fair and eating deep fried food, or going to house parties in New Hampshire, going door to door like a traveling salesman and trying to pitch yourself, or going to hog lots and feigning interest in hogs."

"It seemed so funny to me," Pelosi continued, "that the job description of being president was so different from the surreal stuff you have to go through beforehand."

Political Tourist is both surreal and especially funny. Filmed and narrated by Pelosi, the documentary begins in 2003, as it follows Senators Joe Leiberman, Dick Gephardt, John Edwards, John Kerry, and others, as they race across the country looking for votes. Early highlights include Gov. Howard Dean playing kazoo, Lieberman eating deep-fried Twinkies and Kerry sitting alone on a high school gym stage as an old lady sings. Badly.

Once Kerry wins the nomination, Pelosi makes it her goal to score a one-on-one interview with him. She eventually succeeded in her mission--albeit, not in the way she had hoped.

"I told everyone, hey, I get my five minutes [with Kerry] and I'm going home," said Pelosi after the screening. "And it ended up taking two months."

Unlike the jocular, mugging George W. Bush seen in Journeys with George, Kerry was almost impenetrable, Pelosi said. "He was really careful when the camera was around, and maybe that was a good thing for him. He wasn't going to let some kid with a camcorder undermine his agenda. I, for one, thought it was a missed opportunity."

While Pelosi acknowledged that the documentary may not appeal to everyone, she did point out that the film's objective was to enlighten those who are still unfamiliar with the chaotic campaign process. "You forget how educated you are and how savvy you are and you read the magazines and are in touch," she said to the audience. "But half the country doesn't vote and I thought we were trying to reach those people."

Eric Shawn (C '80), who traveled with Bill Clinton in 1992 for the Fox News Channel, lauded Pelosi for a film that encapsulated the madness of the campaign trail. "It captures that whole world perfectly. It's like a traveling carnival out there, all artificial."

Pelosi and Wallace's conversation was followed by an audience question and answer session that lasted long into the night, and about 10 audience members stayed after everyone else to pepper Pelosi with more questions.

McGinness considered the evening to be a rousing success. "I loved the movie," he said. "I'm a political junkie and I think most people who go to Georgetown are political animals. That's why we couldn't end it tonight. People would have stayed here until three or four in the morning asking questions if they could."



Gilbert Cruz graduated from Georgetown in 2003 with an English major, a Government minor, and not a single act of athletic prowess. A native of New York City, he was forced to take a week long crash course (almost) in automobiles the week before graduation in order to drive down to his first job as a newspaper reporter in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. After a year of traveling the dusty back roads of the South, he made it back up to New York to work as an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly.