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.
The student union is the student union, not dorms. The unions usually have couches, game tables, snack bars,TVs, etc. Nick must have been sneaking in, or staying in after hours & camping out on one of the couches. He was still a squatter.
So the "student housing shortage" makes zero sense since he was *no longer enrolled as a student* there.
Odd.
Thanks. I forgot about a couple of those. I'm not convinced Berg was pro-Bush, and I'm not convinced Aziz was ever on "our side" either. Call me a skeptic... but I'm leaving both on the fence. LOL.
That's what I thought madison..thanks. We called our student union a campus center. I was wondering where the heck he was sleeping...on the pool tables, or the couches? LOL Weird weird weird..
Cyn..yeah, and he was a student at 2 other universities too...don't know what years though.
Glad you found some of the articles you were looking for. Now, if we can only figure out why they are saying that, when there was no housing shortage at all...
And then, maybe we can find out why professors who said they didn't remember Berg all of the sudden recalled him clearly...
Then berg was an infiltrator?? and aziz is a criminal trying to make amends? (a bit of confused sarcasm here)
I'll check in later..thanks so much for all of your informative posts. We all know there is more to this..and it has nothing to do with tin-foil.
*IF* Nick Berg conspired against the United States, he is (was) an enemy of freedom.
*IF* Nick Berg conspired against the United States, I have NO SYMPATHY for what happened to him.
Thus to all traitors.
I just posted a question on another thread:
How many attendees at this event did the Moore crew "interview"?
Also, was any of this conference shown or referenced in the final cut of the movie?
If so, what was the angle and tone of the coverage of it?
Fantastic catch!
The people at Prometheus Radio Project use (or used to use) pseudonyms that actually mean something if you read them the right way. Pete Tridish is "petri dish," for example. I think there was also an Ann Tenna, etc. I'm not sure they still do this. They were originally called "Project Mutiny" but may have had to get a little more legit if they wanted to get funding from the big foundations.
I haven't read the article comparisons about the professors yet... Will do when I get back online.
PS:Hope you're not in the tornado watch...
Two different things--dorms are where students live; student unions are more like "lobbies" at a hotel (for want of a better description).
Plus the guy wasn't even a student during the so called housing shortage..
I think calcowgirl has hit something important here about Aziz, "Pete Tridish" and Radio Prometheus. See her post above and my post #1390.
thanks Miz... It would make sense if he was sleeping in an empty dorm and got caught. But this guy was just a bum..sleeping in the student union...and he wasn't a student according to that article.
Gotta go for sure...kiddos need the puter and I have neglected a few chores today. You guys are really addicting..I mean um...what you guys find during your research is..oh you know what I mean. ;)
Did you catch the prior Corporate name of Iraqi American Business Council, Inc?
Global Power Play, Inc. Methinks things are not as they have been presented. ;-)
I couldn't find the post that this was excerpted from...
In any case, has anybody ever heard of Ahamd Kuba before?
This suggests yet another question--did he actually finish his course(s) or did he drop out early?
And then, maybe we can find out why professors who said they didn't remember Berg all of the sudden recalled him clearly...
They are attempting to make it look like Nick had a legitimate reason for being on campus/in the area...which he didn't. He was not enrolled in classes & he was arrested for "camping out" in the student union. "Someone" has gotten to the profs.
No, I hadn't noticed their name. (Global Power Play - definitely not a good sign!).
One thing many people probably do not remember/do not care about is that Saddam had an extensive secret service network. I'm sure there were front corporations and numerous dubious people seeded throughout Western countries. I wonder if this was one of them?
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