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.
Let's put it this way, his isn't the only story that is embargoed here in this area or people asked not to print something "at this time."
Norman Transcript broke the original story here about Berg being on OU and Moussaoui but "nothing" since that original. No follow-up has been printed -- nothing!
add me to the ping list please. thank you
I'm not sure we really need another ping list as long as the links are posted on backhoe's thread, but what the heck... put me on it, too...
Communication towers have strict guidelines and oversight. I'm sure there are all kinds of Public records. No one is pursuing it.
If Moore indeed received Fed Ex packages from Iraq, and from whom
Nick Berg's high school yearbook with any pertinent quotes
Information on what he was doing in Uganda (contacts) while on that exchange program from Cornell (not Colgate)
Contacts he made at Cornell or in Ithaca NY (City of Evil)
Why he gave up a scholarship at Cornell and went to OU
Any previous contacts between Michael Moore and ANSWER, Berg (either one) or any Islamic group
Any gossip picked up about the Cannes festival regarding Michael Moore
Contacts at OU between Islamic terrorists and Berg
Where Nick Berg got the large amounts of money he claimed he had earned
Who paid Berg's travel expenses to Iraq
There. That should keep us busy for a while. HA!
You posted:
"In essence did one of Moore's adolescent approaches to "movie making" lead to the death of an American?
The overriding material question remains: is Michael Moore complicit in the death of Nick Berg?"
I would go a step further. Moore is way beyond adolesccence. He is a 24/7/365 hate America, conservatives and GW. He would do anything to weaken American and defeat GW.
Like most of the elite limo liberals from Follywood and the east coast, he believes that the Islamofascists are his friends. He had/has no idea of how dangerous they are. He may realize that now, and he and Daddy Berg will do anything to blame GW and conservative Americans for Nick's murder.
I know that the CIA recruits on campus, maybe the FBI also. Berg could have been a great agent to infiltrate these Arab vermin on OU.
Early on, I read that Berger, the elder, was the business manager and that the company had only one employee.
Please ping me.
However, please understand if I don't respond between midnight and about 7 am Pacific time.
"He put all the information he gathered into a database, and he planned to use that information to get contracts for us to work on them," Hollinger said.
All in what, six weeks? A regular climbing maniac, Or a big exaggerator, or a friend that got the numbers wrong...or....
More for your indexing thanks to Howlin.
I told somebody last night that I was having trouble wrapping my mind around this story......and I think the reason is because if ANY of our suspicions turned out to be true, this "story" would be about people working to destroy this country. I know we SAY people do that, but facing the facts would be something so stunning, I'm not sure we could handle it.
But I am beginning to believe they would go this far.
I don't want to appear denser than I already do, but can people just GO to a war zone and start climbing towers????
Great catch!
You KNOW I want on the Berg ping list! This mystery is even more important and more difficult than tracking down the clinton's stolen WH goods.
I am sorry, but I MUST include the ??? above. I CAN be convinced that is the case, but not I've heard decisive evidence despite #337s existence - it has to be confirmed, at a minimum.
IF, on the other hand, NB was actually in cahoots with the Islamofacists and America-haters, MANY things would fit in together, including, possibly, nonchalance about a Jew traveling amongst the Iraqis.
His employee, Hollister, said they had many political coversations and that Nick was pro-Bush.
I have no doubt, especially ever since Moore compared the insurgents in Iraq to the Minutemen. Not to mention Al Gore's rant and Kerry's duplicity and George Soros scheming and....
If he was part of a muslim society in college, that likely places him among the self-hating Jews that are definitely NOT pro-Bush.
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