6 years in the making, Traficant film debuts Saturday

By David Skolnick | March 20, 2015 at 12:10a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

For Eric Murphy, Saturday’s premiere of his 90-minute documentary about former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. will be the culmination of six years of work.

“Traficant: The Congressman of Crimetown” started in 2009, said Murphy, the documentary’s director, producer, writer and editor.

It wasn’t until last Friday that he put the finishing touches on his project and sent it to the Cleveland International Film Festival.

“Of course, there are 10,000 things I want to change, but that’s the nature of film,” he said. “I’m eager to see what everyone thinks. It will be a great experience to show this with friends, family members, collaborators and supporters there. It will be very humbling to show it. I’ve been obsessed by the whole project for a long time.”

The first screening will be at 6:20 p.m. Saturday at the Akron Art Museum, 1 S. High St. It will then be shown at 4 p.m. Sunday and at 11:55 a.m. Monday at the festival’s main location, Tower City Cinemas, 230 W. Huron Road, Cleveland.

“A lot of the interviews were done three, four, five years ago,” Murphy said. “Now they’ll see it up on the big screen. That will be a thrill for some people.”

About 100,000 people are expected to attend the film festival.

Traficant served 17 years in the U.S. House before being expelled in July 2002 after a conviction on 10 felonies including racketeering, bribery and tax evasion. He spent seven years in federal prison and was released in September 2009.

Murphy grew up in Warren and is a Youngstown State University graduate. He said he’s been fascinated by Traficant for years.

“I believe the Traficant story is a universal story,” he said. “He fought for his constituents and got in trouble. We see that everywhere with politicians. I hope his story finds a wide audience.”

The film was largely done when Traficant died Sept. 27, 2014, as a result of injuries he suffered in a tractor accident.

Murphy, however, chose to include Traficant’s death as part of the film. Those additional costs were covered by a successful $27,000 online Kickstarter campaign.

Among those interviewed in the film are actor Ed O’Neill, who provided Murphy with much assistance, as well as filmmaker and former world champion boxer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, YSU President and its former football coach Jim Tressel, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, and longtime Vindicator columnist Bertram de Souza.

Murphy said he plans to submit the film to other film festivals, but hasn’t decided which ones now.