"Fahrenheit" bows out of Oscar documentary race

[GOPAgainstGW]

Tue 7 September, 2004 21:19
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=578919§ion=news
MORE:
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14877,00.html?tnews

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Filmmaker Michael Moore says he is willing to give up a chance to compete in the Oscar race for best documentary with his anti-Bush movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" in order to have it shown on television before the U.S. presidential election in November. Under rules established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, documentaries shown on television within nine months of their theatrical release are ineligible for the documentary Oscar.

In a message posted on Monday on his Web site, Moore said distributors will instead enter "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the Oscar contest for best picture, which does not have the same rules on television showings. No documentary film has ever been nominated for the Academy's top prize. But some Oscar watchers have speculated that keeping "Fahrenheit 9/11," a scathing commentary on Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq, out of the running for best documentary may help its chances to be nominated in the coveted best picture category.

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[Dr Fate]

1. The modern day P.T. Barnum of politics strikes again!

Moore is the MASTER of self promotion- GO MIKE!!!

[Bandit]

6. I think it is more like he is a true Patriot

He is willing to give up an Oscar so that the movie can be aired on TV before the election. I don't call that Promotion I call it Patriotism. If he does this it just may put the movie in the running for best Movie instead of best Documentary, but at least it will be aired Nationally on Network TV.

[dmr]

8. Patriotism, yes, I agree, Bandit

Everyone always talks and some disrepect him as being egocentric.

I think Michael's work is up and beyond his ego. He is just smart enough to know how to get his work out there in the public.

Promoting the inequities in our lives is what Michael is all about. It began that way and it will end that way. It's just so easy to fall into the trap his enemies put out there in talking points to discredit him

Thank you, Michael Moore.

[sendero]

13. Few people who accomplish great things...

... are lacking in the ego department. Whatever Mr. Moore might think privately, he doesn't come off as much of an egotist to me.

No party with a member like Arnold Schwarzenegger should be chastising others over their egos.

[lefthandedskyhook]

12. Patriotism trumps nationalism

as it always should.

[Dr Fate]

14. I mean it in the best possible way. And he IS promoting his movie...

I'm not slighting Moore one bit- when I say he is a master at self promotion- all I am saying is that he knows how to play the game.

No doubt, Moore is indeed the patriot you say he is- but he also knows how to promote his DVD sales (and progressive political agenda) by giving F/9/11 new "Oscar" press...

[apnu]

2. yeah but directors and producers don't make submissions for the Oscars.

The shadowy "Academy" does.

[markdd]

3. As a winner, I think Mike

has a membership in the Academy.

[tridim]

4. The nine month rule needs to be changed

It was probably written in the 50's when there were 4 or 5 channels. TV has changed just a bit since then.

[GOPAgainstGW]

5. WHAT IF HE GETS BEST PICTURE OR EVEN A NOMINATION! BINGO MORE EXPOSURE!

[Luminous Animal]

7. From Mike's site...

"Why I Will Not Seek a Best Documentary Oscar (I'm giving it up in the hopes more voters can see "Fahrenheit 9/11")


9/6/04
Dear Friends,

I had dinner recently with a well-known pollster who had often worked for Republicans. He told me that when he went to see "Fahrenheit 9/11" he got so distraught he twice had to go out in the lobby and pace during the movie.

"The Bush White House left open a huge void when it came to explaining the war to the American people," he told me. "And your film has filled that void -- and now there is no way to defeat it. It is the atomic bomb of this campaign."

He told me how he had conducted an informal poll with "Fahrenheit 9/11" audiences in three different cities and the results were all the same. "Essentially, 80% of the people going IN to see your movie are already likely Kerry voters and the movie has galvanized them in a way you rarely see Democrats galvanized.

"But, here's the bad news for Bush: Though 80% going IN to your movie are Kerry voters, 100% of those COMING OUT of your movie are Kerry voters. You can't come out of this movie and say, 'I am absolutely and enthusiastically voting for George W. Bush.'"

more here: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2004-09-06

___

[lovuian]

9. I think it definitely is Best Picture

:bounce:

[dmr]

10. Can those who vote, write F-911 in, anyway?

If I were a voting member, I'd write in my vote in several categories. That film is awesome!

[KamaAina]

11. Hmmm. Which TV network would clear air time for F-9/11?

The strangest thing is that Moore's "TV Nation" aired on Fox, admittedly in its early days, years before Faux News.

But that was then (early to mid-'90s) and this is now. We've all seen corporate control of the media tighten like a vise in just the past few years.

So, what network wants the ratings badly enough to risk royally cheesing off its corporate masters?

[MagickMuffin]

15. It would probably air on the IFC

(Independent Film Channel). IFC was one of the distributors of the movie when Disney refused to distribute it. Which means it would on cable.

I hope that several networks would pick it up, but that all depends on if they could get the advertising money. And of course let's not forget how the right-wingers got CBS to stop the airing of the Reagan movie, that worked so effectively that CBS would only show it on cable.