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.
"He supported the liberation of the Iraqi people."
We know that the according to the leftists, that means liberation from the oppressive, brutal American occupation!
let me fix that link, sorry:
http://www.michaelmoorehatesamerica.com
This is wierder than it looks. Daddy Berg is not merely liberal. He's a vein-popping high-blood-pressure extremist. Yet he had such a bucolic relatiionship with his adamantly Bush-loving son, even going into business together. Can a lefty have a Bushie for a son? Yes, rarely. But unlike the Bergs, they will have a rocky relationship, especially if the Dad is a ranting nut-case. This is quite odd.
Please add me too. Thanks Howlin.
(Reuters) - Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore interviewed Nick Berg, the American contractor beheaded in Iraq, for his latest film and has offered to show the footage to Berg's family before he would release it, a family spokesman said on Friday.
Bruce Hauser, the spokesman and Bergs' neighbor in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said Moore called him to confirm reports that the footage existed and that Moore wanted to send a copy to the Bergs for their approval before its release.
The clip was made during the filming of "Fahrenheit 9/11," Moore's new movie attacking the Bush administration, which won this year's Palme d'Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Berg interview was not used in the film.
"I was very surprised to hear from him," the family spokesman said of Moore.
"He said, 'Yes, there is such a video,' and if they are OK with it, then he will go ahead and release it," he said. Moore's office in New York confirmed it has the 20-minute interview but said there were no plans to release it. "We are not releasing it to the media. It is not in the film. We are dealing privately with the family," a statement from Moore's office said. Moore was not available for comment. The contents of the interview were unknown, as was the date it was made. Moore's office did not say why it was not used in the film. Berg's decapitation in Iraq was shown in a video on a Web site on May 11, in which his masked executioners said they were retaliating for the U.S. military abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
Berg's parents would not receive Moore's clip until they return from a trip this weekend, Hauser said.
You're right, this stinks and makes no sense whatsoever. An madman like Berg Sr would NOT go into a capitalistic business venture with a conservative son. And the business venture seems to not really have existed anyway. And there is another entity with the name "Prometheus" in PA which is a leftist tool. The whole thing is so weird I can't believe it.
Berg Sr is a lying madman, no doubt about it. Right after his son's death, his reaction is insane anger at Bush. What parent would have that reaction? Where's the grief, the sadness, the regret that he didn't stop Nick from going to Iraq?
I hope we can see the truth of this sooner rather than later.
The conradictions continue.
If Moore is willing to release the footage, that would add quite a different flavor to this whole affair.
So, let's see if I have this straight.
This nice man, Mr. Moore, knew he had in his possession unseen video of Nick Berg, now deceased, which might very well have been the last video taken of Berg -- yet until Salon.com broke the story, he didn't bother to call them up and tell them about it?
Now I really AM wondering why he didn't put this video in his film.
Take a look at this:
From his web site on May 5th:
"There is much more to tell, but right now I am in the lab working on the print to take to the Cannes Film Festival next week (we have been chosen as one of the 18 films in competition)."
So on the 5th of May, he was still in the lab working on this movie; Berg's death was announced on the 8th of May, the news of the video came out on the 11th.
Okay..get out the tinfoil.
Here's an idea . What if Moore and Berg were trying to show that Bush wasn't protecting contractors in Iraq.
I remember seeing an interview right after the video(beheading) came out with the reporter down the hall from Berg. He said that Berg didn't drink, but the night before he disappeared they had beers together..
What if Berg knew that he was going off the next day for his own Martyrdom?
It could have all been a set-up that he knew about.
Would you please add me to the Nick Berg ping list? Thanks!
It won't stop people from wondering why it is that Michael Moore, of all people, met with Nick Berg.
And somebody is going to ask him when they met and how they met.
Right. I already asked Moore if Nick was working for him but he didn't respond to my email. Go figure.
I agree that Berg is very suspect as far as being a conservative. I read somebody's post someplace - probably on Lucianne, where they seem to think it's a crime to call Berg a nutball... that there's nothing mutually exclusive about being a conservative & going globe trotting to better the plight of the poor. I beg to differ! Sure, there are plenty of compassionate conservatives, I consider myself one of these on many fronts. But anybody who has hung out in the 3rd world (I've lived in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, and traveled throughout Latin America & Europe backpacking & what not in my 20s) - knows that conservative kids are always at odds with the liberal "do gooder" kind of 3rd world loving types. You simply don't find 1 individual who is both.
Loaning out your password... (I mean what - he gave his laptop to a random Arab who then HACKED his password? Right!) that ends up w/ an associate of Zach. Mouss...traveling in Africa to help the poor...going to Iraq w/ no protection, no security plan, & hanging out in bad areas...doing an int'v w/ Michael Moore? Yeah, um...conservatives like HATE that guy. I would not offer him a ride if he were hitchiking in Death Valley.
So whatever the case, whether he was just a schizo/borderline/estupidisimo guy or what, Nick Berg had an agenda that went beyond what the mainstream media is buying into.
Another topic, I don't see anything posted yet, but FoxNews is reporting breakthroughs on the Jimmy Hoff investigation with guest and author, Dan Moldea. I don't know if you were around FR then, but there were some threads that Moldea chimed in on....he was a Clinton apologist. One late night we had some pretty heated discussions.
And we don't know that Moore is releasing this...the spokesman for the Berg family says he might if they approve...which is not the same thing at all.
And it doesn't answer why Berg was really in Iraq or how Michael Moore came to interview him.
And I'd like to remind everyone that NB went missing back in April.
How long was moore working on the film? Since early last year, near as I can tell.
Some people have seemed to have a problem in separating Berg's recklessness or other agenda from his murder. Regardless of why he was there I have no such problem and haven't understood why it was almost sacrilege to ask questions.
As for Moore, it seems the extreme left have been looking to blame the United States, directly or indirectly for his murder. Moore would love to add to such conspiracy theories and if the video helped it seems he would have made a point of exposing it before now.
Does anyone have the exact date that Berg was killed?
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