Posted on 05/27/2004 9:26:51 PM PDT by Rennes Templar
May 27, 2004 | Filmmaker Michael Moore filmed an interview with American Nicholas Berg in the course of producing his documentary film "Fahrenheit 9/11" before Berg left for Iraq, where he was taken hostage and killed, Moore confirmed to Salon in a statement Thursday. The 20 minutes of footage does not appear in the final version of "Fahrenheit 911," according to the statement.
Word of the footage reached Salon through a source unaffiliated with Moore or his film "Fahrenheit 9/11," which is reported to feature stark images of U.S. civilians and soldiers grappling with conditions in war-torn Iraq, as well as examining the relationship between President George W. Bush and the bin Laden family. It received the Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's highest honor, on Saturday.
In a statement widely circulated by Moore's people after an initial request for comment by Salon, Moore said, "We have an interview with Nick Berg. It was approximately 20 minutes long. We are not releasing it to the media. It is not in the film. We are dealing privately with the family." Moore's camp declined to comment further on any aspect of the interview. Because the footage is not in the film, a spokeswoman for Miramax Films, the production company behind "Fahrenheit 9/11," said the company had no comment.
It was not clear from Moore's statement whether footage from the interview with Berg had ever been included in early cuts of "Fahrenheit 9/11." Reports about a film industry controversy surrounding distribution of the film first hit the news on May 5, a week before Berg's death. The film officially screened for the public and the press for the first time during the Cannes festival on May 17.
The news that Moore spoke to Berg while he was still in the United States only adds to the mystery surrounding the young man's presence in Iraq and tragic death. The interview was shot before the 26-year-old Berg left for Iraq late last year as a private contractor in the hopes of helping to rebuild the ravaged country. Though it was unclear what Berg spoke about in his interview with Moore, or how the two men met, unrelated reports following his death indicate that he headed for the Middle East with plans to work to improve the country's technological infrastructure and communication abilities. He ran his own company, Prometheus Methods Tower Service, in a suburb of Philadelphia.
Berg did not find employment in Iraq, and when he attempted to return to the United States he was detained by Iraqi police and questioned by American forces. He was released after his family complained. But shortly after, he is believed to have been kidnapped by Islamic terrorists. Video of his beheading was released on an Islamist Web site on May 11. Salon was unable to reach the Berg family for comment before publication.
Moore's film chronicles the United States' military, political and business involvement in the Middle East in the years before and after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. His previous politically charged films, including "Roger & Me" and "Bowling for Columbine," have created controversy and won him praise (including an Oscar, for "Columbine"). "Fahrenheit 9/11" has already sparked a media storm; in early May, Miramax's parent company, Disney, announced that it would not allow Miramax to distribute the film, which is highly critical of Bush and his administration.
Miramax has yet to make a deal with a distributor, though the film's warm reception at Cannes and the publicity surrounding the film have made it a hot property that is generating a lot of interest in Hollywood. "Bowling for Columbine" grossed $21 million, making it the highest-grossing non-IMAX documentary of all time.
A source close to "Fahrenheit 9/11" said that a new distributor will be announced shortly, and that the film is expected to be released in theaters during the first week of July, as originally planned.
I wonder what he has to say about the Clinton adm. giving Halliburton contracts in the 90's.!!
Does any one know what date the ANSWER petition was... Because the company got signed up for a CAGE code 6/2002... you need a CAGE Codes to do biz with the DOD.... odd timeing to start protesting the war and look for biz with the DOD
Is there any info as to whether Nick had a camera w/him?
Sure, there's some media-grabbing footage - apparently shot by one of the camera crews Moore claims to have smuggled in with embedded troops - of American soldiers laughing as they place hoods over Iraqi prisoners, and one GI touching a detainee's genitals through a blanket.
He's showing footage of prisoners. Wonder where they were being held?
All hands on deck, Freeper Howlin Needs YOU!!
Follow the link I just posted. I think her son died in Vietnam.
Howlin needs all your info on the Berg/Moussoui/Atta ? bus stuff links and info. and anything else that went on with Berg in OK. that you have.
This theme would fit in with the theory some have suggested here that Moore wanted to film/document a Nick Berg who made a miraculous metamorphasis from being pro-war/pro-Bush to anti-war/anti-Bush after spending time in Iraq.
Moore isn't saying.
From the article:
It was not clear from Moore's statement whether footage from the interview with Berg had ever been included in early cuts of "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Also, could Michael Moore possibly have any connections with the "Prometheus Radio Project"? I wonder if that may be the link.
For those who don't know, the Prometheus Project is a left-wing project to establish "guerrilla radio" in third-world countries. It's located in the same town in PA as Berg's Prometheus Methods company, and there was some indication that Nick Berg's aunt or even possibly mother may have been involved in it.
**Blink**
Don't forget to ping Howlin with that info.
That's not the impression I got from your post and from Nita's.
Oscar-winning director Michael Moore has screened at Cannes what he claims is the first film footage of US soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.
It appears in his new documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 which also explores alleged connections between the Bush and Bin Laden families.
The abuse "occurred in the field - outside the prison walls", Moore told the film festival.
snip
Soldiers in Moore's film were shown outdoors ridiculing a man covered in a blanket on the ground, calling him "Ali Baba".
"It was an older man who was actually drunk, and it was early in the morning, and he was lying on the ground on a stretcher with a blanket over him," Moore said.
The director's movie has been the talk of the festival
"The footage was shot in Samarra in December 2003, he told BBC News Online, but did not reply when asked which military division was involved.
He said it was "disgraceful" that it took him, using stringers and freelance camera crews in Iraq, to bring such footage to the public.
At the risk of having my words posted ad nauseum over the entire internet, that's it?
One old drunk? Is that the best he can do? How do they even know he was a prisoner?
But when she tries to go to the White House to express her antiwar feelings, Moore ends up delivering a pallid echo of the high point of "Columbine," where victims of that high school massacre descend on Kmart headquarters to demand that the chain stop selling ammunition. By far the best sequence features Lila Lipscomb, a woman from Moore's hometown of Flint, Mich., who lost her Marine son in Vietnam.
Could you please post the link?
This gets more and more bizarre.
What are the possibilities, coincidence wise, that Nick Berg, Michael Moore. Moussauoui, Zarkawi and the photos at Abu Ghraib , come together ?
Anyone good at statistics or actuarial tables out there?
Oh, I see; it was either the way I read it or the way it was worded.
I'd say 100%, if you consider the scenarios posited on this thread.
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