| Conventioneers | |
| Director: | Mora Stephens |
| Producer: | Joel Viertel |
| Editing: | Joel Viertel |
| Studio: | Hyphenate Films |
| Distributor: | Cinema Libre Studio |
| Runtime: | 95 minutes[1] |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Conventioneers is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Mora Stephens (in her feature directorial debut), who co-wrote the screenplay with Joel Viertel. It stars Matthew Mabe, Woodwyn Koons, and Alek Friedman. It revolves around a Republican man who, visiting New York City for the first time as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, falls into an unlikely affair with a Democratic woman.
The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 25, 2005, and was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 20, 2006, by Cinema Libre Studio. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, and won the John Cassavetes Award at the 21st Independent Spirit Awards.
Principal photography took place in New York City in 2004. In a 2007 interview, Mora Stephens explained her vision for the film:
Nathan Lee of The New York Times stated, "The achievement of the film has less to do with guerrilla tactics than with its shrewd interface of the personal and political."[3] Dennis Harvey of Variety praised, "Koons, Friedman and Mabe in particular are all terrific" and also commented, "Script by Stephens and producer-editor-spouse Joel Viertel walks a tricky middle path with seemingly casual, semi-improvised aplomb."[4] Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine gave Conventioneers 2.5 out of 4 stars and wrote, "The film's synthesis of fiction and documentary is smooth and compelling, especially during its climax inside Madison Square Garden, but the story is smaller than its visual britches, toeing a predictable line of conflict."[5] Eric Kohn of IndieWire opined, "The finale is both romantically tragic and crushing in a larger sense to anyone with lingering aches from the second victory of George W. Bush."[6]