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Anti-Bush doccie creates stir
23/05/2004 13:43 - (SA)
Cannes - The decision by the Cannes film festival jury to give its top prize to Fahrenheit 9/11, an unrelenting critique of US President George W Bush and the invasion of Iraq by provocative filmmaker Michael Moore, created a stir around the world on Sunday.
Newspapers noted the politically charged consequences of the announcement, made late on Saturday at a glittering awards ceremony on the French Riviera.
The New York Times noted that although the movie has yet to find a distributor in the United States it was generating intense interest there "as the (November US presidential) election approaches and the debate over the conduct of the war in Iraq grows more intense".
France's Le Parisien called it a "shock for George Bush", while Canada's Toronto Star saw the awards ceremony as "atypically politicised".
Moore said he expected conservative US media to try to minimise the impact of the Cannes win by presenting it as a French statement - despite the fact that, of the nine festival jury members this year, only one was French (actress Emmanuelle Beart) and four were Americans, including jury president Quentin Tarantino.
The panel members were to explain their decision later on Sunday.
Moore's documentary savages Bush, portraying him as a dumb president hopelessly out of his depth and only keen to further his family ties to Saudi oil money - including the relatives of Osama bin Laden.
Throughout it all, it takes the position that Bush and his officials deliberately misled the United States to start the Iraq war for their own ends.
The US director had to wait until long applause died down to accept the award, finally telling the jury that he believed their decision "will ensure that the American people will see this movie".
He dedicated the honour to his 22-year-old daughter and "to all the children in America, and in Iraq and around the world who have suffered from our actions."
During the festival, he made it clear he hoped his film would prompt US voters to oust Bush from office.
"These people (Bush and his officials) have been out of control from the get-go and we as Americans have been responsible for letting that happen," he said after receiving the award.
It was the first time a documentary had won the Palme d'Or since the venerable Cannes film festival created the top prize in 1975.
A White House spokesperson, Suzy DeFrancis, tried to shrug off the award.
"It's a free country. It's what makes America great. Everyone has the right to say what they want. And beyond that, we're not going to comment," she told AFP by telephone late Saturday.
- AFP
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South Africa
