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.
1001
Cinc, you've got alot of reading to do!!
1003
1005
It's a specialty of mine. Ask anyone on the old Judidcial Watch threads.
"We also follows with him the story of Lila, who is an ordinary family mother from Flint, Michigan. We follow her in time : her pride that her kid is a soldier, like many in her family before, then the first doubts of Lila, to, eventually, her son's death and her trip to Washington, while, in the meantime, Moore shows himself trying to recruit, unsuccesfully the senators' kids to go to war in Iraq. "
Or else Moore used old home movies or something. Home video cams came after the Vietnam war, I believe.
I'm a novice, and I miss.
1006
I am convinced Michael Moore is more than just a leftist filmmaker.
John Kerry should had one.......LOL.
You forgot the beginning of the timeline: Nicholas Berg was in Uganda and Ghana in 1998.
Did anything happen in those countries during that time?
I don't know, but aren't they terrorist breeding grounds? I just posted this above, but a friend of mine, a very experience special ops guy was deployed this week and is leaving tomorrow to Africa. He can't even tell us specifically where he's going. No email or mail or phone calls. Scary stuff. I'll do some checking about terrorist activity in those countries.
I believe the Embassy bombings occurred in that time period.
Your getting closer
1016
Where does al-Qaeda operate? We don’t know if it has a headquarters anymore. From 1991 to 1996, al-Qaeda worked out of Sudan. From 1996 until the collapse of the Taliban in 2001, al-Qaeda operated out of Afghanistan and maintained its training camps there. U.S. intelligence officials now think al-Qaeda’s senior leadership is trying to regroup in lawless tribal regions just inside Pakistan, near the Afghan border, or inside Pakistani cities. Al-Qaeda has autonomous underground cells in some 100 countries, including the United States, officials say. Law enforcement has broken up al-Qaeda cells in the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Albania, Uganda, and elsewhere.
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
CNN SUNDAY MORNING 07:00
May 23, 2004 Sunday
Moore Wins Palme d'Or for 'Fahrenheit 911
(snip)
SOPHIA CHOI: Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore scored a big victory at Cannes with a critical look at President George Bush. Moore hopes the attention will cut through studio problems, so he can show his film "Fahrenheit 9-11" to American audiences.
CNN's Chris Burns reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUENTIN TARANTINO, JURY MEMBER, CANNES FILM FESTIVAL: The jury is proud to award the Palme d'Or this year of the Cannes Film Festival to "Fahrenheit 9-11".
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Moore's film takes the top honor at Cannes from a nine member jury, that included four Americans. Director Quentin Tarantino presiding.
MICHAEL MOORE: Many people want the truth to be put away, to be put in the closet. And you've taken it out of the closet by this act.
BURNS: "Fahrenheit 9-11" questions President Bush's election victory, contends that the Bush administration failed to connect the dots before September 11, and says the Bush family had close business ties with the Saudis, including the bin Laden family before the attacks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In his first eight months in office, before September 11, George W. Bush was on vacation, according to "The Washington Post," 42 percent of the time.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hit every shot good. People saying it wouldn't work.
BURNS: Well, that's the entire media clip released here at Cannes, Moore's film laces already existing news footage in Iraq and elsewhere with original film, including an emotional interview with a mother whose son died in Iraq and some ambush journalism of Moore asking congressmen why their sons aren't serving there.
Moore, who won at Cannes two years ago with his anti-gun film, "Bowling for Columbine," joked about Miramax's parent company Disney refusing to distribute his new film in the United States. Disney has recently agreed to sell the distribution rights back to Miramax.
MOORE: We have a distributor now in Albania that we just were told. So now every country in the world can see this film, except one.
(snip)
We will let you have 1350
My point is that this guy was in UGANDA and GHANA and then right after, this Jewish kid from the East Coast ends up at the University of Oklahoma, and stays there even though he doesn't attend school. DURING THAT TIME HE HOOKS UP WITH MOUSSAOUI. It's just too bizarre to be coincidental.
I read previously that the Kenya embassy bombing was in 1998 and that the Kenyan city in which it occurred is right next door to one of those countries. But I didn't follow up that information at the time to check it out.
Did anyone else?
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