This Is Not a Coin LLC offers Obama NFT comes to DC
WASHINGTON, June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — An historic documentary film archive of unseen footage from Obama’s 2009 US Presidential inauguration has been listed for auction as an NFT this week by anonymous group of filmmakers, This Is Not A Coin.
Barack Obama’s inauguration as the 44th President of the United States was celebrated around the world and had a record breaking in person attendance of 1.8 million people. The filmmakers were granted priority access to capture four days of official public events from an artistic perspective. The footage features then President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden, other high profile public officials, cultural celebrities, intimate attendee portraiture, and sweeping imagery of the massive crowds. The once in a lifetime celebration was recorded on the Red One Digital Cinema Camera, the largest resolution commercial motion picture camera available at the time, making the archive the highest quality archival footage in existence of these events .
In their Twitter announcement thread, This Is Not A Coin says they “…have chosen to mint under a pseudonym primarily because we believe the work is bigger than we are. Putting our identities in front felt like a distraction.” The thread includes compelling images from the raw footage, images of special access press badges, and a behind the scenes photo from high above the endless sea of people on the National Mall. They go on to say “This is the first film archive to be offered as an NFT and we look to add to the existing conversation about how filmmakers create and distribute their work.” Linking past and present, they note that the experience of being at Obama’s inauguration “is the same energy we see in today’s NFT community.”
The rare, 1 of 1 edition artwork has been listed on Foundation Marketplace, one of the premiere NFT sites, where it can presently be viewed. According to the listing “The winner of this auction will receive an unlockable (sic) containing the unseen archive of all 4 hours and 30 minutes of raw footage as well an exclusive, unrestricted license to the copyright of those materials.” This Is Not A Coin’s Twitter also states that they have “…no affiliation with Barack Obama or Red Digital Cinema.”
SOURCE This is Not a Coin
