Michael Moore clips debut on Web - News - Security

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Michael Moore clips debut on Web

By David Becker, Special to ZDNet Australia
June 04, 2004
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Michael-Moore-clips-debut-on-Web/0,130061744,139149592,00.htm

Filmmaker Michael Moore began streaming scenes from his controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 on the Web late yesterday.

A trailer for the movie is available via Moore's Web site and is scheduled to begin showing in theatres Friday.

The film takes a critical, highly personal look at events surrounding the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and has become a cause celebre since Moore revealed that Walt Disney had refused to distribute it.

Moore, whose previous films have tackled issues such as gun control and labor policies, alleged that Disney's move was an attempt to silence material in the film critical of President Bush and his administration.

The controversy picked up steam last week, when Fahrenheit 9/11 won the top prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

Moore announced yesterday in the U.S that brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, heads of movie studio Miramax, had bought the film for US$6 million and would distribute it through a partnership with Lions Gate Films and IFC Films. The movie is set to arrive in theatres June 25, but the curious can get an early taste from the trailer. Clips show Moore in fine confrontational style, inviting members of Congress to enlist their children in the Army and send them to Iraq, and driving through Washington reading the text of the Patriot Act over a loudspeaker, for the benefit of lawmakers who didn't read the bill before approving it.

The Web has become an increasingly important venue for Hollywood to promote its wares, with streaming trailers for high-profile films drawing heavy traffic well before the material shows up in theatres.