MANUFACTURING DISSENT: UNCOVERING MICHAEL MOORE
Kanada/Australien 2007 – Director: Debbie Melnyk, Rick Caine – Original language: English – Length: 75 min.
The aim of Manufacturing Dissent is to go behind the hype. It follows Michael Moore on tour promoting Farenheit 9/11, starting out as a balanced exploration of the filmmaker and political activist. After the filmmakers fail to secure an interview with Moore, they meet critics, former colleagues and long-time observers and Moore's credibility as a journalist and filmmaker is brought into question. Canadian filmmakers Melnyk and Caine present an even-handed but painfully honest portrait, whilst exploring the politically-charged climate in the U.S. that has allowed Moore to rise from filmmaker to icon of the political left. This film is not an attack by right-leaning polemicists, but a study by two self-described "progressive liberals".
The film subtly and carefully discloses the facts and presents the interviewees' points of view with accuracy and integrity, convictions that many viewers, in turn, feel are lacking from the activist's own work. It gradually highlights a reluctantly-developed disillusionment with Moore, but manages to do so without sensationalising its findings.Writer: Debbie Melnyk & Rick Caine. Camera: Rick Caine. Sound: Debbie Melnyk. Editing: Bill Towgood, Robert Ruzic. Music: Michael White. Production: Persistence of Vision Productions Inc.. Producer: Debbie Melnyk & Rick Caine. International Sales: Films Transit International.
