French Filmmaker Takes Own Stab at Bush

by Shiraz Sidhva

When "Fahrenheit 9/11" was selected for the Cannes Film Festival (news - web
sites), another documentary about George W. Bush was waiting in the wings in
case Michael Moore (news)’s
film wasn’t ready in time.

"The organizers were keen to include our film in the Official Selection but felt
it was politically
incorrect to have two anti-Bush documentaries at
Cannes," says Jean-Francois Lepetit, whose Flach Film
produced "Le Monde Selon Bush" (The World According to
Bush).

Directed by seasoned documentary maker William Karel, the 90-minute film could
scarcely be more different to Moore’s Palme d’Or winner. Karel’s style is sober,
eschewing humor and stunts in favor of heavyweight
interviews.

"Le Monde" is a scathing attack on Bush’s first 1,000
days in power, and chronicles the first family’s
alleged links with the oil and arms industries.

Originally made for French public broadcaster France 2,
the documentary premiered on television last Friday,
but in an unusual move opened theatrically in France on
Wednesday. "We wanted to give the film a wider
audience," Lepetit explains.

Inspired by journalist-author Eric Laurent’s two books
on the Bush administration, "Le Monde" is the fifth
film by Karel examining American political power. The
Tunisian-born Swiss director insists he "adores"
America, but chose to make the film because "it’s a
true story stranger than fiction."

Spending more than eight months battling "the veil of
secrecy" surrounding those in office, Karel managed 26
detailed interviews, with personalities including
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites),
neo-conservative Richard Perle, former CIA (news - web
sites) directors James Woosley and David Kay, writer
Norman Mailer, academics and journalists.

"I was amazed how willing some people were to be
interviewed, straight after they had left government
and were no longer bound by secrecy laws," Karel says.

The EUR500,000 ($605,000) film covers many topics,
including how the "Christian right Israeli lobby" has
influenced U.S. policy in the Middle East and how the
Sept. 11 attack gave a "clueless" Bush his raison
d’etre — the "crusade" against terrorism, the "false
pretext" under which the second war on Iraq (news - web
sites) was waged, and the "big lie" linking Saddam
Hussein (news - web sites) to Sept. 11. The film
illustrates how George H.W. Bush, first as vice
president and then as president from 1988 to 1992,
armed and financed Saddam Hussein. The Bush family’s
alleged ties to the Bin Laden clan and Saudi Arabia are
also examined.

Karel insists his film is not a French diatribe against
America but rather a gathering of eyewitness accounts
from Americans who lived through the times. "To think
President Richard Nixon was impeached because of three
tapes!" Karel exclaims. He hopes the film will be seen
in the United States. "None of my films have made it to
the U.S., but I’m hopeful that this one will," he says.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040623/film_nm/film_france_dc_1

27.06.2004
Bellaciao Collective