The Record

Sunday, May 1, 2005

By BRIAN ABERBACK
STAFF WRITER

There always seems to be some kind of drama going on in Bogota.

Rumors fly at the speed of light in the small Bergen County borough, where residents and politicians don't hesitate to say what they think in public, political correctness be damned.

"It's a town that, like many small towns, is very quirky," said lifelong resident Juan Dominguez.

For Dominguez, a former borough councilman, Bogota's small-town drama and turbulent politics were screaming out for the big-screen treatment. So Dominguez, who had previously written television scripts, went to work on producing a film.

The award-winning documentary that resulted, "Anytown USA," makes its New Jersey premiere today at the Trenton Film Festival. The movie chronicles Bogota's 2003 mayoral election, one of the few elections - if not the only one - in American history to include a legally blind incumbent and challenger.

A crew that sometimes numbered as many as 15 people followed three candidates on the campaign trail and interviewed dozens of residents. The documentary portrays a town of 8,000 that one top official in the film describes as "a cross between the Norman Rockwell scene and the Bronx."

Mayor Steve Lonegan is the most colorful, and at times off-color, character in the film.

The blunt-speaking, conservative Republican feuds with the Board of Education, takes pleasure in inciting his detractors and is generally seen as either a strong leader and the taxpayers' best friend or an arrogant, cold-hearted tyrant.

"It looks like it's going to be terrific," said Lonegan, who had seen a trailer of the film when interviewed last week. Lonegan, who won a third mayoral term in the 2003 election, is one of seven candidates seeking the GOP nomination for governor in next month's primary.

Lonegan said he isn't concerned about the film's timing or how he's portrayed.

"You take the good with the bad," he said. "I think [the film] is good for the town, and I hope it gives a good insight into what local campaigns are about and why they're important."

Filming of the 93-minute movie, which is equal parts drama, civics lesson and unintended comedy, began around Labor Day 2003, the unofficial start of the campaign season.

At the time, Lonegan was running against Democrat Fred Pesce. The movie heats up when a possible spoiler, former Bogota High School football star Dave Musikant, enters the race in late September as the longest of long-shots: an independent, write-in candidate. Like Lonegan, Musikant was legally blind.

Musikant, who died of cancer last September at age 37, is gregarious and upbeat, bringing an underdog angle to the film. Friends say Musikant was friendly and inspiring off screen, too.

Musikant began having vision trouble in 1996, when the brain tumor that caused the problem and would later take his life was discovered. Lonegan, who began losing his sight in his youth, has a genetic condition that affects the retina.

"It would've been a different film if Musikant didn't enter the race," Dominguez said. "Ultimately, you kind of get the 'Rocky' story. The guy goes from nowhere to people saying, 'Oh my God, what if this guy gets 500 votes?'" Musikant added another quirky aspect to the film when he hired Doug Friedline, the man who ran professional wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura's successful gubernatorial campaign in Minnesota, to jump-start his own belated run.

"Dave was a real go-getter, a pleasure to be around," Friedline said. "It was amazing to see what he accomplished in that little time. He could've done extremely well [as mayor]."

Pesce, who has the least screen time of the three candidates, said he was never really comfortable with the film crews. He said he thought Dominguez, who was once Lonegan's running mate, had ulterior motives while filming.

"I thought there was more behind it than was represented," Pesce said. "I took it as an infringement on our campaign. But it's good to show people what goes on."

Dominguez said he had been out of politics for five years when he made the film and that he never shared information about one campaign with another or tried to portray Lonegan more favorably than his challengers. The film's director, Kristian Fraga, also defended the film as impartial.

"We just told the story the way it played out," said Fraga, a Leonia native. "I think the people of Bogota will see that and realize it. We didn't have it out for anybody."

Besides the human drama, the movie also details the inner workings of local elections, from door-to-door campaigning and fund raising to lawn sign placements and literally getting people out of their homes to vote on Election Day.

Bogota has proven to be a hit with filmgoers nationwide. . Last month, "Anytown USA" won the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival's Emerging Filmmaker Award for Best Documentary. Last week, it took third place out of 72 documentaries at the Newport Beach Film Festival in California. It has been submitted to several other film festivals across the country and in Canada.

Dominguez said that at least five distributors have shown interest in the film. He hopes it will eventually be seen in theaters nationwide and on television.

Dominguez said he's thrilled with the film's success so far. He said he chose the title "Anytown USA" because the quirkiness of small-town America is a universal theme. Rather than look down on Bogota, audiences are identifying with the town, he said.

"At the festivals, people were saying, 'I can relate to that town. That character is so and so in my hometown,' " Dominguez said.

If the candidates are the "stars" of "Anytown USA," then the supporting cast is the dozens of townspeople who are interviewed about the election and life in Bogota in general.

"We deserve to be in a movie," said Allison Bookspan, a lifelong borough resident who appears in the film with her husband, Alan. "This town is a comedy all in its own. The characters in this town Ÿ... Ÿ it's amazing."

Bookspan and others are quick to point out that they would rather live in a town of passionate people who care about their community than a quieter place where neighbors don't know each others' names.

The fervor seen in the film is "a symptom of a lot of people caring about what goes on," said Joe Noto, who ran unsuccessfully for council on the Pesce ticket. Noto ran for council again last year and won.

Dominguez said he's confident that most residents will enjoy the film.

"I think that no matter the issue, most of the people in the town try to make it a better place to live, and this is what they hope for in their politicians," he said. "The fact that we all may fall a little short sometimes doesn't really matter."

E-mail: aberback@northjersey.com

The buzz

Here's what critics are saying about "Anytown USA." Tickets for today's 2 p.m. screening at the Trenton Film Festival can be purchased at trentonfilmfestival.org.

• "The politicians' desire for public office was nothing compared to the citizens' passion for their side. Egg-tossing, sign-tearing and plain old name-calling were all captured by Mr. Fraga's cameras, making for one of the liveliest political documentaries since 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' One of the main differences between the two, however, was that Mr. Fraga didn't pick a side."

  - Packet Online |(packetonline.com)

• "The 2003 mayoral candidates of Bogota, N.J., and their rowdy supporters behave in ways that would make a civics teacher cringe."

  - Star Tribune, |Minneapolis

• "Unexpectedly touching documentary with whipsaw editing and a keen instinct for pointing out the difference between what people say and what they do. ... A unique portrait of small-town America and of a bizarre political battle."

  - Pioneer Press, |St. Paul, Minn.