A century ago, so-called Copper Kings infiltrated Montana’s political system, buying legislative support for their exploitative mining and business practices. To reclaim local control of Big Sky Country, Montana’s citizens pushed for stringent campaign finance laws curtailing corporate influence over state politics. In 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision rendered these laws as quaintly anachronistic as the tiny bungalow that still houses the office for Montana’s commissioner of political practices. It didn’t take long before locally minded politicians from both parties found themselves outgunned by their opponents’ insurmountable campaigns, secretly funded by a new generation of robber barons expecting political favors in return for their investment. Dark Money is a sobering account of how contemporary politics has become a financial shell game. Yet it is also an inspiring portrait of tenacious activism, following an underfunded but intrepid journalist and attorneys as they work to expose pay-to-play corruption and to return control of Montana’s politics to its people.  TAW

Moderated conversation following screening