‘Traficant’ documentarySFlbto be screened at Tyler

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The documentary film “Traficant: The Congressman of Crimetown” will be screened at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Tyler History Center, 325 W. Federal St., downtown. Tickets are $7 at the door ($5 for Mahoning Valley Historical Society members), and parking will be free. For information, call 330-743-2589.

Eric Murphy, the Warren native and Youngstown State University graduate who made the film, will lead a question-and-answer session after the screening.

The late and colorful Jim Traficant was a college quarterback turned mob-busting sheriff of Mahoning County. He quickly ascended to Congress, becoming its most outspoken member. He was known for his polyester suits, wigs, vulgar humor and profanity-laced rhetoric.

He was expelled from Congress and sent to prison for bribery and tax evasion.

The 90-minute documentary incorporates television news footage and interviews with actor Ed O’Neill, U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan, Hall of Fame boxer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, former Youngstown Mayor Pat Ungaro, Judge Edward Cox and many other prominent local figures. The film has been screened theatrically in Los Angeles, Boston and Pittsburgh, and played at a dozen film festivals, garnering a PBS Jury nomination for Best Documentary at the Austin Film Festival.

“Traficant” also will be screened Friday at 8:30 p.m. at the Canton Film Festival. It is available via Video on Demand (Amazon, iTunes and Vimeo) and DVD at traficant-movie.com.