The Shame of a City, a feature-length documentary that catapulted Hill into the local and national political spotlight, has been identified as a tool used by reform candidate
Michael Nutter in securing election to
Philadelphia mayoral office in 2007. The film, independently released in 2006, followed moderate Republican mayoral candidate
Sam Katz as he unsuccessfully sought to defeat incumbent Democrat
John Street in 2003 in a race that made national news when a
Federal Bureau of Investigation bug was found in Street’s office. Hill’s film gained widespread attention for exposing many high-ranking Street supporters as disingenuous opportunists who intentionally and falsely manipulated racial tensions and suspicion of President
George W. Bush's administration to get Street re-elected despite a string of corruption
indictments in his inner circle that threatened to implicate him directly
The Shame of a City quickly became a mechanism favored by local politicians, journalists, academics and activists to address the endemic problems of a city once referred to as “corrupt and contented.” The timing of these civic discussions benefited reformer and former city council member Nutter, who was by then attempting to succeed Street by securing the Democratic primary vote for mayor against two Street supporters portrayed negatively in Hill’s movie: Congressmen
Bob Brady and
Chaka Fattah. After receiving Hill’s endorsement, Nutter himself screened “The Shame of a City” five times to sold-out audiences, using it to raise money and awareness of his opponents’ political techniques. In the primary election of May 2007, Nutter overcame a polling lag to emerge as winner, and easily beat his opponent in the general election. The film generated substantial press coverage, earning Hill an interview on MSNBC, named references in five successive issues of
Philadelphia Magazine, and positive reviews by
The Philadelphia Inquirer, among others. Screenings were sponsored by institutions including
Philadelphia magazine. The film, beyond solidifying Hill’s reputation as a serious filmmaker who could maintain the respect of even the people vilified in his film, provided an introduction to a Katz campaign consultant, Carl Singley, whose strongly positive appearance in the movie briefly made him the focus of an early, informal citywide campaign for him to run for mayor.
Philadelphia magazine picked up on the campaign, but Singley eventually declined to run. ==The Barrel of a Gun==