| Michael Moore says his new film Fahrenheit 9/11 is fact, not propaganda at 23:47 on June 18, 2004, EST. |
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Director Michael Moore smiles during an interview in Toronto Friday. (CP/Aaron Harris) TORONTO (CP) - Hopefully Canadians will not set a trend at the end of the current federal election and vote into power a political party that says it would have joined the Bush administration's invasion-of-Iraq coalition, says U.S. filmmaker Michael Moore. "For you to go backwards would be a horrible thing to see happen," the scruffy-faced Moore said when asked about the stance of Conservative Leader Stephen Harper. He said he was grateful the former Liberal government stayed out of Iraq. Moore arrived in Toronto on Friday to help promote his already-controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, a scathing indictment of President George W. Bush's handling of the events of Sept. 11, 2001. In an interview, Moore said he resented the criticisms by some right-wing American opponents that his film amounts to liberal propaganda. "It's a work of journalism," he maintained. "It's the real journalism that the journalists should be doing. The movie is filled with a lot of facts, a lot of background information, a lot of research and then the film is an op ed piece. Propaganda? That's a bit of a strong term. Propagandists believe it's OK to take the facts and tell half-truths and twist them to meet their purposes. I present to you the facts." As for those who say he isn't playing by the rules because he manages to be both a social satirist and a documentary journalist not held to the traditional rules of impartiality? "Like bona-fide journalists do? Bona-fide journalists are not impartial. Bona-fide journalists in the U.S. supported this war, cheerleaded this war, got in bed with the administration, never asked the hard questions and completely failed the American people by not doing their job." And he said those people undoubtedly will come after him because Fahrenheit 9/11 shows things not seen on the nightly TV news. "And a lot of people are going to leave the theatre wondering why. Why did they put Bush through a filter? Why didn't we see him as he really is? Why don't we hear from the soldiers who are against the war?" Moore asked. As for the shortage of Moore's traditional sense of humour in the admittedly dark film, he said he decided to leave most of the humour up to Bush. And Moore doesn't expect to win any hearts and minds among the ultra-right. He says he's preaching to the choir because in America the choir has been asleep by not voting. "Who's the choir? The 50 per cent of the American people who don't vote. Are they the elite? Are they the rich? Are they the well-educated? "They are the poor, the working class, the single moms, the young people and the African-Americans." He said those people have given up, have sunk into despair and cynicism and that it's his job to pull them back and urge them to give it another try. "I hope to give the choir a song to sing and I hope they sing it loud as they leave the movie theatre." Asked why he is hated so much by the ultra-right in the U.S., Moore said it's because they smartly perceive that his form of documentary film is effective. "Unlike most of the left, I have reached a wide mainstream audience, something the left doesn't usually reach. And that is dangerous, and they need to stop that." Pro-Republican groups in the U.S. have already geared up to oppose the film, including a massive letter-writing campaign to theatre chains. Moore says some theatres will even have security posted. In the U.S. distributors are appealing to get the film a PG-13 rating, not an R. The Motion Picture Association of America appeals board is scheduled to meet Tuesday. The Ontario Film Review Board will consider the film's rating Monday night. Moore said it's important that teenagers get to see the film despite its graphic images of death and dying in Iraq. "My position is that if these kids are going to be asked to go fight a war in a couple of years, they should at the very least be allowed to see what's going on over there on a movie screen." The film has had a rocky course already. Although winning the top award at the recent Cannes Film Festival, its release by Miramax Films in the U.S. was temporarily blocked last month when parent company Disney argued that it would represent an improper intrusion into the upcoming American election campaign. It has since found other distributors, including Alliance Atlantis in Canada. - On the Web: www.michaelmoore.com JOHN MCKAY |
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