The other side of Michael Moore
Even before its opening in Canada tomorrow, Hot Docs, the largest documentary film festival in North America, can be assured of at least one controversial film - one that aims to debunk Michael Moore.
Manufacturing Dissent, about the life and work of the Oscar and Palme d'Or winning filmmaker of hits such as Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 911, shows him twisting the truth and using footage out of context. The film, which will be shown on Sunday and Tuesday, caused a stir at the South by Southwest film and music festival in Austin, Texas, in March.
Criticism of Moore's films has been loud and constant - but it has come mainly from the right, not from his own ideological camp. "We agreed with his politics," said Rick Caine, who made the film with his partner, Debbie Melnyk. And no one has done more for documentary films, he adds.
"Roger and Me was hilarious, and we cheered Michael Moore when he criticised the war in Iraq at the 2003 Oscars, when few people did," said Caine. Caine and Melnyk, who are married, had just finished a film about tycoon Conrad Black.
"We wanted to do a film about someone we liked, someone we wanted to celebrate," he said. But they soon discovered a trail of broken promises to colleagues, exaggerations of facts, and footage used out of context. They considered abandoning the film, but had already accepted funding so they continued, attempting to get some on-camera answers in the same way Moore did in Roger and Me with then-General Motors chairman Rogers Smith.
Although the film is based on Smith's refusal to speak to Moore, the two met twice, says former friend and activist Jim Musselman in Manufacturing Dissent. Musselman, a lawyer who has worked with US activist Ralph Nader to promote the use of air bags in cars, was a friend and fellow activist with Moore in unemployment plagued Flint, Michigan.
The film shows an embittered Musselman claiming that Moore had asked him to lie about the meetings with Smith. Other colleagues, including actress Jeanine Garafalo, praise him for his kindness and showmanship, and for being uncompromising in his criticism.
"I believe Moore really did care about Flint, that he was coming from a pure place," remarked Caine. But it was much more dramatic to have Roger refusing to meet with him," he said. This film, Caine added, taught him more about documentary ethics than any of his preceding five films. Another telling moment for the team was in Bowling for Columbine, when Moore, praising Canada, claims that the country is so safe that Canadians do not have to lock their doors.
"I lock my door, so does everyone I know," Caine remarked, adding that 25 per cent of his North American ticket sales come from Canada. The film turns into a kind of Michael and Me with filmmaker Debbie Melnyk appearing at Moore's speaking engagements and trying to get an interview. In the film Moore looks surprised, insists he likes Canadians - he even hugs a blushing Melnyk at one point - but claims he is too busy for a formal interview. He tells her to email him, but her requests were never answered.
At a Moore appearance at Kent State University in Ohio, which the filmmakers entered with fabricated TV-station identification, Moore's sister, Anne, knocks down Caine's camera and they are told to leave. Caine and his partner are aware that the film could be used by the right-wing media to discredit Moore's political convictions.
"On Fox TV we said that if you're going to talk about misleading the people, you have to say that (US President) George Bush misled the country into going to war with Iraq."
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival opens tomorrow and will present 130 films in 10 days.
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Manufacturing Dissent, about the life and work of the Oscar and Palme d'Or winning filmmaker of hits such as Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 911, shows him twisting the truth and using footage out of context. The film, which will be shown on Sunday and Tuesday, caused a stir at the South by Southwest film and music festival in Austin, Texas, in March.
Criticism of Moore's films has been loud and constant - but it has come mainly from the right, not from his own ideological camp. "We agreed with his politics," said Rick Caine, who made the film with his partner, Debbie Melnyk. And no one has done more for documentary films, he adds.
"Roger and Me was hilarious, and we cheered Michael Moore when he criticised the war in Iraq at the 2003 Oscars, when few people did," said Caine. Caine and Melnyk, who are married, had just finished a film about tycoon Conrad Black.
"We wanted to do a film about someone we liked, someone we wanted to celebrate," he said. But they soon discovered a trail of broken promises to colleagues, exaggerations of facts, and footage used out of context. They considered abandoning the film, but had already accepted funding so they continued, attempting to get some on-camera answers in the same way Moore did in Roger and Me with then-General Motors chairman Rogers Smith.
Although the film is based on Smith's refusal to speak to Moore, the two met twice, says former friend and activist Jim Musselman in Manufacturing Dissent. Musselman, a lawyer who has worked with US activist Ralph Nader to promote the use of air bags in cars, was a friend and fellow activist with Moore in unemployment plagued Flint, Michigan.
The film shows an embittered Musselman claiming that Moore had asked him to lie about the meetings with Smith. Other colleagues, including actress Jeanine Garafalo, praise him for his kindness and showmanship, and for being uncompromising in his criticism.
"I believe Moore really did care about Flint, that he was coming from a pure place," remarked Caine. But it was much more dramatic to have Roger refusing to meet with him," he said. This film, Caine added, taught him more about documentary ethics than any of his preceding five films. Another telling moment for the team was in Bowling for Columbine, when Moore, praising Canada, claims that the country is so safe that Canadians do not have to lock their doors.
"I lock my door, so does everyone I know," Caine remarked, adding that 25 per cent of his North American ticket sales come from Canada. The film turns into a kind of Michael and Me with filmmaker Debbie Melnyk appearing at Moore's speaking engagements and trying to get an interview. In the film Moore looks surprised, insists he likes Canadians - he even hugs a blushing Melnyk at one point - but claims he is too busy for a formal interview. He tells her to email him, but her requests were never answered.
At a Moore appearance at Kent State University in Ohio, which the filmmakers entered with fabricated TV-station identification, Moore's sister, Anne, knocks down Caine's camera and they are told to leave. Caine and his partner are aware that the film could be used by the right-wing media to discredit Moore's political convictions.
"On Fox TV we said that if you're going to talk about misleading the people, you have to say that (US President) George Bush misled the country into going to war with Iraq."
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival opens tomorrow and will present 130 films in 10 days.
mh.com.au
more on YouTube
Comments
Poor buggers, they try and make film celebrating him and end up doing the opposite.
"If people are willing to lie for the cause, like a major news organization for instance..."
I think he just stuck it to fox, on fox! NICE!
the path that they have already laid out inside their minds...
brilliant