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.
Check out #1517 re: Tridish comment.
Pray for W and Our Troops Safety
Here is a most interesting quote in the Columbia Journalism Review from a recent interview with this "Pete Tridish" person:
'Community radio doesn't have a person in Baghdad - well, actually we do'..."
Another bump for this VERY interesting bit of info.
A law against what's going on in schools every day? That would be nice, but if there is one, it's hopelessly ignored, isn't it?
Oh, my.
Well, it seems to me that we need to save all this information that's disappearing on the 'net. Lol!
bttt
'something peculiar'? I think it was a jewish prayer-shawl...just doesn't fit with the koran, does it?
I communicated for a year or so with an israeli woman, an observant jew who told me 'don't be fooled, there are jews who love the arabs more than they love their own people'.
I found that hard to believe then, but it's beginning to sink in...maybe he thought praying to allah whilst wearing his prayer-shawl would prove something (?) World Peace...all one and the same God...brothers under the skin etc. Love them more and they won't kill us? Little Berg obviously never had a history lesson.
I'm reading the article you linked. I notice the interview was in the September/October 2003 issue, so pre-dates Berg going to Iraq.
Still, it remains a very interesting statement from petridish.
I figured if you knew where Wallacia was you were in the area...its near Penrith, west of Sydney. I was there 83 to 90, working in a health center, I'm an alternative health care provider. I loved it there too, but always wanted to come back to the good ol USA.
YIKES!!!!! "Easiest to bug".....CRIKEY! Sounds like Berg DID BUG!!
Do you live there?
FBI needs to Subpoena that Duke guy who was Berg's friend. Is Duke part of A.N.S.W.E.R. or some other lefty group???
I have seen that name Hugo Infante but I have NO idea who he is or was.....can you enlighten?
I found Wallacia on the map, it's near Warragamba Dam, right? I live close to the Queensland border, in the Tweed Hinterland, about 100 years behind the times.
It's on this thread...let me find and link the info and the freeper theory.
A thought just occurred to me. I'm sitting here hoping our FBI has already been spending the last few weeks looking at the timing of the Prometheus "radio barn-raising" activities and Nick Berg's location. His cell phone records should reveal a lot.
http://www.cjr.org/issues/2003/5/radio-kelliher.asp
For Villanueva, an electrical inspector with no previous radio experience, the road to WSBL-LP began with a 700-mile drive to Maryland. That's where the Prometheus Radio Project was holding a "radio barn-raising" seminar at the site of another low-power FM station, WRYR-LP in Sherwood, Maryland. Prometheus, a nonprofit organization devoted to the growth of noncommercial community radio, offers legal and technical support to communities that want to build a low-power station — something that can realistically be done for about $10,000. The barn-raising offers three days of classes (including "Intro to Radio Engineering," "Running an All-Volunteer News Operation," "How the FCC Works") and concludes with the raising of a transmission tower and the station's first broadcast. "Once these stations were just a glint in the eye of the village wacko," says Pete Tridish, technical director for Prometheus. "People would say, 'You can't build a radio channel, only Clear Channel can build a radio channel.'"
.m with you... The guy in the orange jump suit looked NOTHING like Berg's other photos....imho.
Yes right.I never got to your area...closet was in Armidale.
Did go up to the Gold Coast and Brisbane a few times...loved the beaches there. I've got some friends in Bellingen. Back in the 80's it seemed like whole country was about 30 yrs behind! I hope its caught up.
100 Watt stations???? Do the dogs hear it??
"Saddam only allowed hard wire which is easiest to bug..."
Sounds more like SADDAM was the 'bugger' in this case. I know what you are thinking, when I first read it, so did I!
We don't know how old those towers are. They may have existed since before Saddam came into power. I think the inference is that under Saddam no repairs were made. (counter-productive.) The shia majority were his victims, therefor he would hardly repair a system that allowed them to communicate, (I think.)
The name "Prometheus METHODS..." Just what WAS Prometheus's methods in Mythology??
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