Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911" Wins Palme d'Or at Cannes

What's IFC?

Independent Film Channel -- it's a cable channel that is usually not premium. In OC Warner Cable it's Ch 308 but, of course, on your local satellite or cable it may be different.

Thanks, LW.

Michael Moore and his wife have shown up dressed to the nines on the red carpet. That means his film has won a prize. Will it be a special judges award like last year or, dare I say, the Palm D'Or?

NEW FLASH!

"Farenheit 9/11" wins the Palme d'Or

What is that?
Sort of like, this film gets the Oscar?

It's considered in filmdom as the most prestigious award in the world, even over the Oscar. It's practically means a shoe-in for another Oscar in documentary as well.

It's reported that a Bush advisor phoned him at home and told him, "Put down your pretzel, 'Farenheit 9/11' just won the Palm D'or."

Bush replies, "What's a Palm Door?"

The good news is when Michael Moore accepted the Palme d'Or award at Cannes for "F911", he announced his film now has distibution rights for part of the world.

The communication lines at Disney must be going full steam. Let's hope Disney will not continue to stand in the way of allowing this film to be viewed in the United States.

Moore quipped that he was notified just before the awards that the film had found a distributor in Albania. Disney has set a precedent in selling back controversial films before and their finding another distributor. I think that's what is happening here and it will undoubtedly now have no problem getting distribution in the U.S. Moore also stated he'd like to see it on DVD before the elections.

Wouldn't that be great!

Cool!

Definitely interested in seeing it.

The Weinstein Brothers at MIRAMAX are negotiating now to buy the film back and contract with a new distributor. There are many distributors in the U.S. The irony is that the film was first going to be financed by Icon Productions, Mel Gibson's company and ended up at MIRAMAX whose parent company is Disney. Gibson also could not find a distributor for his "Passion" until the 11th hour.

Excerpt from TIME Magazine announces the win:

The Fine Art of Burning Bush
Michael Moore walks off with the Palme d'Or

By RICHARD CORLISS



Sunday, May. 23, 2004
Michael Moore has never had trouble drawing a crowd. His cheerfully angry left-wing books sell millions of copies in the U.S. and around the globe, and his Oscar-winning documentary Bowling for Columbine earned $58 million worldwide. Last week the fellow from Flint, Michigan, who's usually seen in a scruffy beard and duck-hunter couture, was prowling the Riviera in a tuxedo jacket and baggy black trousers, and this time the game he was aiming at was George W. Bush.

Cannes was primed for Moore's latest movie Molotov cocktail, Fahrenheit 9/11, long before it won the coveted Palme D'Or award on Saturday evening. The film's first screening, on a Monday at 8 a.m., got blanket news coverage; a dozen or so radio and TV crews circled the U.S. critics to get their early reaction. Meanwhile, Miramax Films co-chairman Harvey Weinstein, whose Disney bosses had forbidden him to release the film, was dealmaking with a flock of U.S. distributors hoping to profit from the film's marketable notoriety.


TIME MAGAZINE LINK

Neo-Cons attack the French for being democratic.

I believe the film is also entered in the Venice Film Festival. If it were to win something there, they can begin attacking the Italians.

Stephen Dalton of The London Times is not overly impressed:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13889-1114179,00.html

Generally speaking, Moore has never been popular in the UK. The Brits just don't like his style.

I watched interviews with some French peopleat Cannes who said it wasn't the best film, and Tarantino steamrolled the award for Moore.

Alot ofpeople there were disappointed that politics whored Cannes.

Links? French people at Cannes? The festival at Cannes is about 10% French. Who are these people who complained? The conservatives, of course, will have a fit but it's no different than the liberals having a fit over the films the conservatives make. BTW, just what are those films?

I must say, Sofia, that last sentence is a dousy.