Last week Academy Award®-winning filmmaker and political provocateur Michael Moore visited Belfast to present his latest film ‘Where to Invade Next’.
On his short visit, Michael was shown the sights of Belfast during a whirlwind tour, by filmmaker Mark Cousins (I Am Belfast). First stop was The Crown Bar, and some of the film history of the pub from Mark, in relation to Carol Reed’s 1947 classic Odd Man Out some of which was filmed in the bar ; then onwards to Stormont Castle and a meeting with DFM Martin McGuinness and Minister Alistair Ross (DUP) ; this was followed by a series of visits throughout different areas of the City.
Michael finished off his packed day at the Movie House, Dublin Road to present his film to more than 600 people in two packed to capacity screens. The ‘ In Conversation’ event was hosted brilliantly by everyone’s favourite BBC presenter William Crawley. Topics raised included the recent Orlando massacre and gun crime in the US, Trump, Clinton and Sanders, Obama’s time in office, tomorrow’s Euro Referendum. For those of you who missed the talk – NVTV (Community TV station) filmed the entire discussion for broadcast at a soon-to-be-announced date.
Moore is the Oscar and Emmy-winning director of the ground-breaking, record-setting films ‘Roger & Me’, ‘Bowling for Columbine’, and ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’, which also won the top prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and went on to become the highest-grossing documentary of all time. It became the first documentary ever to premiere No. 1 at the box-office in its opening weekend. His 2007 documentary, ‘Sicko’ is self-described as “a comedy about 45 million people with no healthcare in the richest country on Earth”. Moore investigated American health care horror stories, focusing on large American pharmaceutical companies, the corruption in the Food and Drug Administration, and even brought injured 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba to receive treatment. He also earned the label of America’s No. 1 selling nonfiction author, with such books as ‘Stupid White Men’, ‘Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation’ and ‘Dude, Where’s My Country’.
Honoured by festivals and critics groups alike, ‘Where to Invade Next’ is an expansive, hilarious, and subversive comedy in which Moore confronts the most pressing issues facing America today and finds solutions in the most unlikely places. An epic movie that’s unlike anything he has done before – an eye-opening call to arms to capture the American Dream and restore it in, of all places, America.