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.
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They ought to quit calling Moore's fantasies 'documentary'.
It's fiction like most of the stuff out of hollywood.
someone needs to call George Noory
There are more passengers on that same train on:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1143391/posts
welcome aboard!
He sweats buckets just by climbing out of bed each morning.
Thank you! I'm catching up from earlier today.
But I am POSITIVE that I read on this forum in the last week or so that Michael Moore had claimed to have a "spy" in Iraq because I remember posting that I hoped it was so and this piece of crap finally got busted.
I don't think he sweats bullets, I think he sweats gravy.
Yes, indeed... this gets stranger by the minute.
We really should have a vote on FR to not give any more credence to that fat fing treasonous pig or France. Frankly, they both disgust me and both topics are becoming quite boring. Why waste your energy on lost causes?
This will be like the California Recall Election Smear multiplied by a thousand.
Michael Moore interviewed/filmed Nick Berg.
Moussoui had Nick's computer password.
Nick's father,Michael Berg, not only belongs/funds A.N.S.W.E.R,but has talked with Kerry.
Nick's Aunt was married to an Iraqi,Nick and this uncle were"close",and Nick spent time,in Iraq spending time with and setting up a computer site for his Uncle's brother...and GOD only knows who else.
Did Woody Allen get his idea to film ZELIG,from Nick Berg's life,before he lived it?
Other than his father's repeated statements of this, who else has ever said this, or reported this? (not a hostile question. I truly want to know how widespread this perception was, if at all)
I am intensely suspicious of this, due to his father pushing and pushing this statement, almost like some kind of cover story. I have a theory but I'm not married to it. If you have anything that makes this belief more than from his father promoting it, it would clear things up for me.
Hmmm.... a day or two ago I was flamed for my analysis that Berg was a USEFUL-IDIOT in iraq by the PC crowd, and useful-idiot 'conservatives'...
"everyone is too "politically correct" to air the obvious.
Berg was in Iraq to aid the islamic terrorists - more to damage this country than any other reason - just like the useful-idiot-bimbo that laid down in front of the bulldozer in Israel.
Berg thought the islamic terrorists would welcome the help of the american fool, but he found out suddenly and very unexpectedly, his best use was as a "victim"
His father had raised him all his life to feel as a victim anyway. Like all good leftist-radicals.
Don't let the term 'jewish' make you think otherwise - these radicals have NO religious convictions other than to their state."
OMG, it must be true.......you NEVER buy into any of this stuff!
This is the most bizarre thing I've EVER read!
Mr. Berg is beginning to look like Forrest Gump, in that he seems to have shown up meeting a lot of (in)famous people, most of whom are on the far left. What are the odds? 1 million to 1? 1 billion to 1? 1 trillion to 1? Something smells very fishy here . . . .
You have brought up some interesting and intriguing points.
I'd say they are the same odds as all those people who knew the Clintons being dead.
That's a bad bet. I can think of three reasons, two that I'm willing to share, that footage of NB wouldn't be included in Moore's F911 film:
1. Saving that footage for an anti-Bush campaign commercial,
2. Would reveal a Moore/NB connection to ANSWER (or worse),
Posted on 04/25/2004 9:38:29 PM EDT by summer
From Michael Moore's web site:
[...]
The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not "insurgents" or "terrorists" or "The Enemy." They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win. Get it, Mr. Bush? ....
[....]
I currently have two cameramen/reporters doing work for me in Iraq for my movie (unbeknownst to the Army). They are talking to soldiers and gathering the true sentiment about what is really going on. They Fed Ex the footage back to me each week. That's right, Fed Ex. Who said we haven't brought freedom to Iraq! The funniest story my guys tell me is how when they fly into Baghdad, they don't have to show a passport or go through immigration. Why not? Because they have not traveled from a foreign country -- they're coming from America TO America, a place that is ours, a new American territory called Iraq.
[....]
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