BY SARAH STEPHEN
On May 4, US left-liberal filmmaker Michael Moore was told that Miramax Films had been instructed by its owner, the Walt Disney Company, not to distribute Moore's new film, Fahrenheit 9/11, in North America.
"I would have hoped by now that I would be able to put my work out to the public without having to experience the profound censorship obstacles I often seem to encounter", Moore wrote on his website on May 5.
Fahrenheit 9/11 examines the background to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the "war on terror" launched by US President George Bush. The film explores the financial links going back three decades between the Bush family and prominent Saudi Arabians, including the family of Osama bin Laden. The film was selected by the Cannes Film Festival to premiere in competition this May. This is only the second time in the last 48 years that a documentary has been chosen to be in the main competition (the first being Moore's film Bowling for Columbine in 2002).
A Disney executive told the May 5 New York Times that the company was blocking the distribution of the film in the United States and Canada because, in the paper's words, "Disney caters to families of all political stripes and believes Mr Moore's film ... could alienate many".
The executive added: "It's not in the interest of any major corporation to be dragged into a highly charged partisan political battle."
Given that corporations like Disney — which also owns the American Broadcasting Company TV network — control much of the public discussion in the US, this avowed unwillingness to air controversial viewpoints that might challenge the views of some customers is chilling enough. But Moore's agent, Ari Emanuel, charges that Disney has an even more disturbing reason for blocking distribution of the film. According to Emanuel, he had a conversation last year with Disney chief executive Michael Eisner, who asked him to cancel his deal with Miramax and "expressed particular concern that it would endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in Florida, where Mr Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor".
Disney may have another reason to reject a film that might offend the Saudi royal family — a powerful member of the family, Al Walid bin Talal, owns a major stake in the Eurodisney amusement park. The park is facing a new cash crunch and, according to the January 26 Los Angeles Times, Disney is relying on Talal to cover the park's losses.
Whatever Disney's motivations for not wanting to distribute Moore's film, it's certainly not because it thinks there will be too small an audience. Moore's last film, Bowling for Columbine, grossed US$58 million worldwide. Unfortunately, when giant corporations are making the decisions, the fact that millions of people might want to see a film doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be able to — if that film might conflict with the corporate distributor's other interests.
On May 13, the Hollywood.com web site reported that Disney executives announced they would allow Miramax chiefs Bob and Harvey Weinstein to spend up to $6 million of their own money to personally buy Fahrenheit 9/11 from Miramax, enabling them to seek other North American distributors for the film.
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, May 19, 2004.
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