Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Michael Moore Skewered in Documentary
NewsMax - The cameras get turned on Michael Moore for a change at the South by Southwest film festival, where the documentary "Manufacturing Dissent" will have its world premiere.
The film from directors Rick Caine and Debbie Melnyk, playing Saturday night at the Austin, Texas, festival, follows Moore during the release of "Fahrenheit 9/11" and questions many of his tactics.
Among its revelations: that the confrontational documentarian did interview former General Motors Chairman Roger Smith, the elusive subject of his 1989 debut "Roger & Me," and simply chose to leave it out of the finished cut.
Moore, who won an Academy Award for 2002's "Bowling for Columbine," has not responded to e-mail and phone requests for comment.
"The people who can attest to this are extremely credible and do attest to this in the film," said John Pierson, the independent film veteran who helped sell "Roger & Me" to Warner Bros. and now teaches at the University of Texas at Austin. "I've always loved `Roger & Me.' I loved working on it. I really believed in it, and that's really bad. The fundamental core of the film is how his mission to get Roger Smith fails and, P.S., Michael spent 18 years since then swearing he never interviewed Roger Smith."
South by Southwest producer Matt Dentler said there was a similar buzz at the festival in 2002 when Alexandra Pelosi showed her documentary "Journeys With George," in which she followed President Bush during his first run for the White House.
"I think on the surface people have a certain conception about what (`Manufacturing Dissent') is that for the most part is probably false. The film is for the most part critical of Michael Moore but it's not a political film, there's no partisanship," he said. "It's an issue of questioning the media, deciphering who's the architect of what we consider fact and fiction and reality."
NewsMax - The cameras get turned on Michael Moore for a change at the South by Southwest film festival, where the documentary "Manufacturing Dissent" will have its world premiere.
The film from directors Rick Caine and Debbie Melnyk, playing Saturday night at the Austin, Texas, festival, follows Moore during the release of "Fahrenheit 9/11" and questions many of his tactics.
Among its revelations: that the confrontational documentarian did interview former General Motors Chairman Roger Smith, the elusive subject of his 1989 debut "Roger & Me," and simply chose to leave it out of the finished cut.
Moore, who won an Academy Award for 2002's "Bowling for Columbine," has not responded to e-mail and phone requests for comment.
"The people who can attest to this are extremely credible and do attest to this in the film," said John Pierson, the independent film veteran who helped sell "Roger & Me" to Warner Bros. and now teaches at the University of Texas at Austin. "I've always loved `Roger & Me.' I loved working on it. I really believed in it, and that's really bad. The fundamental core of the film is how his mission to get Roger Smith fails and, P.S., Michael spent 18 years since then swearing he never interviewed Roger Smith."
South by Southwest producer Matt Dentler said there was a similar buzz at the festival in 2002 when Alexandra Pelosi showed her documentary "Journeys With George," in which she followed President Bush during his first run for the White House.
"I think on the surface people have a certain conception about what (`Manufacturing Dissent') is that for the most part is probably false. The film is for the most part critical of Michael Moore but it's not a political film, there's no partisanship," he said. "It's an issue of questioning the media, deciphering who's the architect of what we consider fact and fiction and reality."
