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.
Fyi and indexing.
Right. Now I might be going off the tinfoil deep-end here, but imagine if Michael Moore's desired coup was to get an interview with Osama Bin Laden himself, just to be able to say how incompetent the Bush administration was, if a humble little fat assbag fake populist like himself could get into the heart of Al Qaeda but the greatest military in the world was still taking potshots at caves.
Actually there is</i. some sort of organization that lists companies that work on communications towers and "Prometheus" and NB ere both listed on it. I saw the website myself soon after the story broke.
If I was a reporter in Baghdad, the first thing I would do is to contact whoever has been setting up cellular networks there to see what they know of him.. It isn't unusual for tower work to be done by free-lancers, but SOMEBODY would have hired him, paid hm and checked on his work.
"Neither Moore nor his representatives would discuss the nature of the interview with Mr Berg, or its contents, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Anybody see any AP "stories" yet???
"And don't forget: according to Berg the elder, his son was the best friend the terrorists ever had."
I discounted Berg's father's comment as a slip of the tongue during mourning for his son, but you have to wonder....what he said was, "he was the best friend Al Queda had, 'er, the Iraqi's"....paraphrased, but real close.
I think that could be it. It started out as some kind of sppof, at least as far as Berg knew, but then got deadly serious. NO WAY were they ever going to let him go. I think that they had some of the same problems trying to understand what team Berg was on as we are having. But they know how to take care of such uncertainties.
Berg may have been naive at the beginning but by the time he came to Norman, he was involved with the Islamic Society of Norman (never knew we had one until this broke) but had nothing to do with the folks at Hillel. Whatever happened in Uganda seems to have triggered his transfer to Norman.
He worked at Lloyd Noble for awhile to earn extra money for when we had games, concerts, etc. Only people who seem to remember him as a regular guy. Profs do not remember him. What bothers the people I know is why he would be hanging out at the Islamic Society and not Hillel and know Moussaoui's two ex-roommates who were not students from all accounts?
That one roommate was one of the creepiest people I have ever seen in my life.
To add to everything else, there was an Arab student at the OU flight school (lived in the same apartment complex on campus as the lowlifes) that was going on a solo flight and crashed his plane within yards of a gas station in front of Albertson's -- saw the plane come down right in front of my eyes. Student survived and the story came out he didn't have the tanks filled in the aircraft before taking off but then I have heard that wasn't the case. Who knows what to believe but that incident happened during this time frame. The gas station is near the runway of Max Westenheimer Airport where the Flight School is located that Moussaoui attended.
A privately held company like this would not necessarily have much in the way of records, and definitely not public records.
Nothing you'll be able to find except with a subpoena.
.
My tinfoil hat has become a permenant fixture after all of this and the OKC Bombing! :)
Not me. I had a good seven hours, but I think I "posted" and "Googled" in my dreams!
Consider this practice for the elections!
Are you in training? Got down to your playing weight?
Is it just me, or am I reading in fine print between the lines: "Don't you dare look too closely at what I'm doing."?
Okay......I am officially starting a Nick Berg ping list -- let me know if you want on!
This is one we can share!!!!! I'll compile it and post it!
This is not the kind of training where you actually lose weight..........LOL.
Too much sitting!
Put me on your list. I have to go do some work now, but I'll be back later.
Correction... until Feb 2001 ...
note to PKM: gotcha again. ... correct cut and paste... lol ...
Now, there were some reputable and talented people competing with Moore. And I am certain he is not as skilled as everyone said. And several have commented that Moore looked frightened when he accepted the award.
Did he beg for the award for cover?
Any chance of your son getting his fraternity friend to gather some hints about the content of the embargoed article or why it was embargoed?
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