ARTE Distribution

Here is the story of the extraordinary rise of an ambitious and charismatic female politician who “broke down barriers” and was the first woman to become Vice President of the United States - and who knows, maybe even the first woman in the White House?

As the daughter of an Indian mother, a fervent civil rights activist, and a Jamaican father, Kamala Harris embodies a contemporary vision of the American Dream. Born in California in 1964, at a time when racial segregation had just been outlawed once and for all, she very soon after that, took up the cause of the African American community to which she felt she belonged. While studying at Howard University, “the Black Harvard”, she developed a passion for public speaking, before she went on to study law. A member of the California Bar, she ran for San Francisco District Attorney, winning after a hard-fought campaign. In this position, she asserted her strong convictions: she fought against the death penalty, gun violence, fought for education for African Americans and the right to a second chance for juvenile delinquents. This was followed by a stunning entry into politics: elected in 2017 to the US Senate - the second Black woman in history to hold this position - under the Democratic colors, she ran in the party's primary, before being chosen as running mate by candidate Joe Biden, to whom she had nevertheless delivered many blows during the debates. As first Vice President of the United States, in the shadow of the man whose more conservative positions she is expected to represent, Kamala Harris is now well on her way to the highest position in the US government...