Netflix picks 'Street Fight': doc on Cory Booker queued up for Labor Day Weekend

Marshall Curry film traces rising Democratic Party star's first big run for office, in Newark, New Jersey

Long before Cory Booker became a Senator from New Jersey and a national figure, he set his sights on a slightly less prominent -- if no less challenging -- office: Mayor of Newark, New Jersey.

His bid to wrest control of City Hall from a veteran machine politician was documented in the 2005 film Street Fight, which earned an Oscar nomination for director Marshall Curry. For the first time Netflix is streaming the documentary, just in time for the long Labor Day Weekend.

In the middle of this bare-knuckles campaign season it’s also a refreshing reminder about the importance of fighting a good fight while still keeping your soul.

  --Marshall Curry, director of Street Fight 

That brutal race for Mayor in 2002 exposed generational and class divides between the two candidates -- the young, idealistic and well-educated Booker going up against incumbent Sharpe James, a flinty character who had ruled the city for years. 

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Street Fight is considered by many to be one of the best political documentaries of all time. Along with its Academy Award nomination the film won audience awards from the Tribeca Film Festival and the AFI/Silverdocs Festival. It was named Best International Documentary at the Hotdocs festival in Toronto.

Curry pronounced himself delighted with the Netflix announcement. In a statement released by the streaming service's PR team he said, "I'm really glad to see the film available again for audiences. It’s a story that reveals a lot about the health of democracy in America. In the middle of this bare-knuckles campaign season it’s also a refreshing reminder about the importance of fighting a good fight while still keeping your soul.”

Looking for something amazing to watch on #Netflix? Street Fight. @CoryBooker is phenomenal.

— Kimberly Narvaez (@eccentric_muse) September 3, 2016

Thanks Chris. The film maker @marshallcurry did a great job with Street Fight. It is now available on Netflix. https://t.co/OtopOryWKz

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 2, 2016

​The junior Senator from New Jersey, who took office in October of 2013, reportedly made Hillary Clinton's shortlist of possible vice presidential running mates. That slot eventually went to another Senator -- Tim Kaine of Virginia. Booker did earn a prominent speaking opportunity at the Democratic National Convention, where Clinton became the first woman to secure a major political party's presidential nomination.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) addressing the Democratic National Convention July 25, 2016. Photo by Scott Audette/Reuters

Let's be each other's heroes; both remembering heroism isn't just a big singular act but tireless small acts of love https://t.co/TfB3MDgxga

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 2, 2016

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