Editing Dinesh D'Souza (section)

====''2016: Obama's America'' film (2012)====
{{Main|2016: Obama's America}}
D'Souza wrote and co-directed the documentary-style polemical film ''[[2016: Obama's America]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sharkey |first=Betsy |date=August 26, 2012 |title=2016: Obama's America' goes by the book |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-obamas-america-critics-notebook-2016-20120827,0,3566497.story?dssReturn |access-date=February 1, 2018}}</ref> Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities in the lives of D'Souza and President [[Barack Obama]]. D'Souza suggested that early influences on Obama affected the decisions he made as president. The film's [[tagline]] is "Love him or hate him, you don't know him." The film has been criticized on the grounds that what D'Souza claims to be an investigation of Obama includes considerable projection, speculation, and selective borrowing from Obama's autobiography, to prove D'Souza's own narrative.<ref>{{cite news|first=Andy|last=Webster|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/movies/2016-obamas-america-by-dinesh-dsouza.html|title=Documentary Exploring Obama's Political Roots|work=The New York Times|date=August 12, 2012|access-date=September 7, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816071016/http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/movies/2016-obamas-america-by-dinesh-dsouza.html|archive-date=August 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Beth|last=Fouhy|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/28/is-dsouzas-anti-obama-film-subjective/?page=all#pagebreak|title=Is D'Souza's anti-Obama film 'subjective'?|newspaper=[[The Washington Times]]|date=August 28, 2012|access-date=September 7, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904113925/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/28/is-dsouzas-anti-obama-film-subjective/?page=all#pagebreak|archive-date=September 4, 2012}}</ref> In a "Fact Check" of the film, the [[Associated Press]] found that D'Souza provided little or no evidence for most of his claims, noted that several allegations were factually false, and described the film's central thesis as "almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best."<ref>{{Cite news|first=Beth|last=Fouhy|url=https://www.yahoo.com/movies/news/fact-check-anti-obama-film-muddy-facts-072153385--politics.html|title=Fact Check: Anti-Obama film muddy on facts|publisher=Yahoo! Entertainment|date=August 28, 2012|access-date=September 11, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912012700/https://www.yahoo.com/movies/news/fact-check-anti-obama-film-muddy-facts-072153385--politics.html|archive-date=September 12, 2017}}</ref>

After a limited release beginning July 13, 2012, the film expanded to over 1,000 theaters in late August 2012, and reached more than 2,000 theaters before the end of September 2012, eventually grossing more than $33.4 million.<ref name="bomojodoc">{{cite web |title=Documentary Movies at the Box Office – Box Office Mojo |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=documentary.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830030116/http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=documentary.htm |archive-date=August 30, 2012 |access-date=December 23, 2016 |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref> It is the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style film in the United States during the last four decades,<ref name="bomojodoc" /> and the second highest-grossing political documentary.<ref name="bomojopoldoc">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=politicaldoc.htm|title=Documentary – Political Movies at the Box Office – Box Office Mojo|publisher=boxofficemojo.com|access-date=December 23, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110083242/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=politicaldoc.htm|archive-date=January 10, 2017}}</ref>

The Obama administration described the film as "an insidious attempt to dishonestly smear the president".<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 5, 2012|title='2016: Obama's America' is a deliberate distortion of President Obama's record and world view|url=http://www.barackobama.com/truth-team/entry/2016-obamas-america-is-a-deliberate-distortion-of-president-obamas-record-a|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107234935/http://www.barackobama.com/truth-team/entry/2016-obamas-america-is-a-deliberate-distortion-of-president-obamas-record-a|archive-date=November 7, 2012|access-date=November 27, 2020|website=barackobama.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Cavan|last=Sieczkowski|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/obama-campaign-responds-2016-obamas-america-smear-president_n_1874978.html|title=President's Campaign Slams Anti-Obama Film '2016: Obama's America'|work=[[Huffington Post]]|date=September 11, 2012|access-date=December 23, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211060932/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/obama-campaign-responds-2016-obamas-america-smear-president_n_1874978.html|archive-date=December 11, 2016}}</ref> Later, when D'Souza was indicted for violating election law, D'Souza and his co-producers alleged that he was selectively prosecuted, and that the indictment was politically motivated retribution for the success of the film.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|first=Paul|last=Bond|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/2016-obamas-america-filmmaker-indicted-673670|title='2016: Obama's America' Filmmaker Indicted for Violating Campaign Finance Laws|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=January 23, 2014|access-date=December 23, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116235616/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/2016-obamas-america-filmmaker-indicted-673670|archive-date=November 16, 2016}}</ref>