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Dreams from My Real Father: A Story of Reds and Deception is a 2012 American documentary-style film by Joel Gilbert which claims that U.S. President Barack Obama's biological father was Communist Party USA activist Frank Marshall Davis. The title is derived from the title of Obama's memoir Dreams from My Father.

Background

The film maintains that Frank Marshall Davis met Obama's mother Ann Dunham through her father Stanley Dunham, whom Gilbert claims was not a furniture salesman, but actually a CIA agent tasked with monitoring Communists in Hawaii.

Filmmaker Joel Gilbert said the film was the result of two years of research. He claims he found nude and fetish photos of Obama's mother Ann Dunham, which he says were taken in late 1960 by Frank Marshall Davis in Davis' Hawaii home. Gilbert compared these to Dunham's high school pictures and says he found the correlation to be "obvious". The Hollywood Reporter said, "He did not use an expert, however, to support his finding."

Gilbert says that over one million copies of his film were mailed to voters in Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire and Colorado in the time leading up to the 2012 United States presidential election. He refused to disclose who funded the film's distribution, and a report by The Daily Beast pointed out that there was no way to verify the numbers claimed by Gilbert. A complaint was filed with the Federal Election Commission, but the commission determined the film was "press", and therefore was not required to disclose how it was funded.

Reception

Critical reaction to the film was largely negative, with exceptions: Bill Armistead, the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, endorsed the film and called its theory "absolutely terrifying". WorldNetDaily's Jerome Corsi accepted the film's photographic claims, calling it "compelling". Jack Cashill, also a WorldNetDaily contributor, called the film "the most fascinating video treatment of the Obama story that I have yet to see."

Among conservatives the reaction was mixed. Some believers in the Birther theory, such as Orly Taitz, disliked the film, since it claims Obama's father was an American, albeit a Communist. Gilbert, in turn, has disparaged this position: "...'birthers' are barking up the wrong tree. It's not a question of where Obama was born -- but rather, one of paternity."

David Maraniss, author of Barack Obama: The Story, called the film "preposterous", saying that it is "depressing to have so much fictional, unreported, conspiratorial, unhistorical stuff floating around." Among anti-Obama productions, Maraniss said "This DVD is the worst of the bunch."

At The Daily Beast, commentator Michelle Goldberg wrote, "It's tempting to ignore Dreams from My Real Father because it's so preposterous... What matters here is not that a lone crank made a vulgar conspiracy video, one that outdoes even birther propaganda in its lunacy and bad taste. It’s that the video is finding an audience on the right." Steve Murphy, a Democratic consultant, said, "It's about the lowest thing you can do to accuse, with no evidence, the opposition candidate's mother of being a porn star... There are two motives behind this – racism and money. It's a cynical attempt to make some coin and exploit the views of the fringes of mainstream views."

Of the ad for the film in the New York Post, one Businessweek writer wrote: "The ad's one irrefutable claim is that the DVD is topping Amazon’s documentary sales. With few exceptions, reviewers are giving it five stars and gushing reviews. They give less credence to some of Gilbert's other films, including Elvis Found Alive and Paul McCartney Really Is Dead."

References

1. Tapson, Mark (Aug 14, 2012). "Dreams from My Real Father: A Story of Reds and Deception". frontpagemag.com. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
2. ^ Stratton, Jim (October 18, 2012). "Anti-Obama DVD floods local mailboxes". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
3. ^ Goldberg, Michelle (September 28, 2012). "With 'Dreams from My Real Father,' Have Obama Haters Hit Rock Bottom?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
4. ^ Staff (September 28, 2012). "New Anti-Obama Film Claims His Mother Posed for Nude Photos". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
5. Weigel, David (April 8, 2016). "How a film about Obama's communist 'real father' won at the FEC". Washington Post.
6. Rayfield, Jillian (September 20, 2012). "Alabama GOP chairman goes birther". Salon. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
7. Corsi, Dr. Jerome (2012-04-25). "FILM: PRESIDENT'S FATHER NOT BARACK OBAMA – 2 years of research, rare photos support compelling case".
8. Cashill, Jack (May 15, 2012). "Now about Obama's Teenage Years!". American Thinker.
9. Reilly, Ryan J. (May 16, 2012). "Batty 'Birther' Movie Divides Conspiracy Diehards". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
10. Carter, R.J. (June 6, 2012). "Joel Gilbert: Birthers Asking Wrong Question on Obama Parentage". The Trades. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
11. Julian Sancton (September 11, 2012). "'New York Post' Runs Boldest Anti-Obama Ad Yet". Businessweek. Retrieved 2012-10-04.

External links

• Official website
• Official trailer on YouTube
• Dreams from My Real Father at IMDb
• Dreams from My Real Father at Rotten Tomatoes

• 2012 films
• Articles created via the Article Wizard
• American films
• Media-related controversies in the United States
• Political controversies in the United States
• 2010s documentary films
• American independent films
• American documentary films
• Documentary films about conspiracy theories
• Documentary films about American politics
• Films about Barack Obama
• Conspiracy theories regarding Barack Obama