Marion Barry, DC's "Mayor for Life," will always have his fans -- as well as his detractors. And both were at hand for closing night of the SILVERDOCS Festival in Silver Spring, Md., Saturday night.
Chanting "Marion! Marion! Marion!", Barry's fans cheered on the current DC Ward 8 Councilman who's at the center of attention in "The Nine Lives of Marion Barry."
Protesters kept it simple too, shouting, "Shame! Shame! Shame!" at Hizzoner, City Paper reports.
Produced by DC locals Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer, the HBO documentary looks at Barry's visceral appeal and early vision -- but not enough of Hizzoner's dark side, according to critics like Politics Daily's Jill Lawrence, who calls Barry "a punch line," and City Paper's Jason Cherkis, who writes, "The dirty little secret is that Barry is terrible on the subject of himself."
There will be two more days of screenings at the AFI Silver Theatre showing various SILVERDOCS award winners and repeat showings of the “best of the fest” films, as determined by viewers' votes, Decider D.C. reports.
"The Nine Lives of Marion Barry" airs nationally August 10, when HBO rolls out the red carpet for the premiere of the film in New York.
