[Reader-list] Sicko in Oscar: A letter from Michael Moore

[prakash ray]

Dear all,

I am posting a letter from filmmaker Michael Moore with the happy note that
his latest film "Sicko" has got nomination for the Oscar.

Thanks,
Prakash

January 25, 2008

Friends,

I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know (if you didn't already) the
good news that "Sicko" has been nominated for this year's Academy Award for
Best Documentary. It was a pleasant surprise when we got the news on
Tuesday.

Of course, every reporter who's called me in the past few days wanted to
know if I plan on giving an "anti-war" or "anti-Bush" speech, should "Sicko"
win, as I did when we won the Oscar for "Bowling for Columbine" in 2003. (As
you may recall, it was the 5th day of the war when those Oscars were held,
and I said from the stage that, while I enjoy making nonfiction films, we
live in fictitious times with a man of fiction in the White House. A ruckus
ensued with a loud roar of cheers and boos, then someone cued the band to
get me off the stage. As host Steve Martin said a few moments later,
Teamsters were out back loading me into the trunk of a car.)

Well it's five years later and we are still at war. But there's no booing
these days. 65% of the public is now opposed to the war and to Mr. Bush. The
Academy, instead of cutting off the microphone, now nominates anti-war films
for Best Documentary. That's right, three of the five nominees this year are
Iraq War films!

I am very honored to be in this group of documentaries, three of which I
brought last summer to our film festival in northern Michigan. "Taxi to the
Dark Side" is a brutal examination of U.S. torture in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Operation Homecoming" has actors reading letters from soldiers in Iraq. "No
End in Sight" has ex-Bush administration officials admitting how they messed
up the occupation, lamenting how things would have been so much better if
only Bush had put people in Baghdad who knew what they were doing (and
wouldn't we all have loved to see THAT? Hahaha). And "War/Dance" tells the
moving story of kids in a dance competition in war-torn Africa. A diverse
group of films, and proof that nonfiction movies are stronger than ever.

A lot of people ask me, 'how does this whole Oscar voting thing work?' Well,
actors nominate actors, directors nominate directors -- every branch
essentially votes to nominate their own (including documentary filmmakers in
my branch) -- and then all 6,000 Academy members vote for the Best Picture
nominees. After the nominations are announced, then all 6,000 vote for all
the categories.

Documentaries, though, have one special rule: The voters have to verify they
have seen all five nominated films. As some of these films, unfortunately,
don't have the distribution they deserve, special Academy members-only
screenings of all five nominees are set up for this very purpose in the next
few days in New York <http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/academy_ny/>, and in
the next couple of weeks in L.A. and
elsewhere<http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/academy_la_else/>,
and that's when any Academy member can vote for Best Documentary.

But will there be an Oscar show this year? As you know, the Writers Guild
(of which I am a member) is on strike and the Oscars are a union show. If
the strike isn't settled, they won't be able to put on the typical telecast
as no actor, writer or anyone I know will cross the picket line. This is all
happening because a couple of hotheads at the studios (some would say
union-busting knuckleheads) have walked away from the negotiating table in
what seems like an attempt to simply get rid of the union. What do they
think we are, air traffic controllers?

The writers are only asking for about 2.5 cents out of every dollar made on
Internet sales (that's right, not even 3 pennies!), a small pittance
compared to what the studios or networks rake in. That's it. The union has
dropped the demand to unionize the reality shows (in 1993, I created the
first unionized reality show, "TV Nation," but the Writers Guild
unfortunately wasn't able to build on this).

I would like to believe that the honchos will come to their senses and
settle this strike. Otherwise, I won't be able to talk to Joan Rivers on the
red carpet or attend all those Oscar parties afterward! Don't make me suffer
like this! My wardrobe and stylist people are already in tears.

In the meantime, I'll send you some pre-Super Tuesday thoughts next week.
Thanks again for all your nice comments on the Oscar nod and I hope this
extra attention on "Sicko" will help to push for the day when every American
can go to the doctor or the hospital and never be asked "what's in your
wallet?"

Yours,
Michael Moore