Bronx Obama

Overview

If you think that being the president of the United States is a difficult job, try pretending to be him. That is exactly what Louis Ortiz does for a day job—he is an Obama impersonator. What began as a few remarks about his likeness to the president, turned into a full time gig. Louis Ortiz, who had worked for Verizon as a field technician in the past, was unemployed for a year and struggling to make ends meet, before he took a chance and decided to capitalise on his looks.

The risk payed off. His impression of Obama has taken him from his home in the Bronx all over the United States and beyond. He is routinely asked to pose for photographs on the street, he has performed for Republican conventions alongside other political impersonators, including Bill Clinton and Mitt Romney. He is even meeting a Putin impersonator in Russia.

Louis Oritz's life changed in ways he could have never imagined, and Bronx Obama's director, Ryan Murdock, documented his journey in detail. This film is a unique exploration of identity and artifice, of the illusive American dream and of social, political and racial dynamics in the United States today.