TORONTO SURPRISE

Mike will give Toronto film festival audiences sneak peeks from his two new documentaries, one of which is Sicko, his U.S. health care shocker.

The other… is a work-in-progress called The Great '04 Slacker Uprising, a document of his political travels during the 2004 election campaign.

Who would have thought ? Just a few days ago I was still coming across rants from wingnuts yelling at Mike for his forthcoming treasonable treasonous snake in the grass yadda yadda yadda Katrina opus.

Well, even though I'm not convinced that Iran is one, I have to admit that wingnuts DO like windmills. Mike is not at all after Katrina for all it seems. (for now at least... ;) )

Back to the autobiographical tour filming method that did wonders in The Big One, he's working on - sorry, I meant cashing in on - his 2004 Slacker Uprising Tour, and therefore on FREEDOM OF SPEECH and APATHY.

Personally, I'm delighted to see him tackle those subjects. Besides the fact that I never was over-excited at the prospect of some kind of Return of Fahrenheit 9/11, even in the movie's heyday, I'd rather have Mike handle less burning and yet more thoroughgoing subjects than Katrina or Bush's too obvious and too narcissistically painful record. No "I told you so" message can hold water in that country, and Mike does need to get SOME of his popularity back in order be able to reach a decent audience and display some influence again. Of course he's going to be tagged as an egomaniac again, but that would be the lesser of two evils...

And finally I do think that apathy is our deepest - and sickest - disease, and a direct consequence of the war on freedom of speech. Why the fuck would you act when you can't even speak ?

A most excellent and promising news, then.

Thom Powers, who’s the documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival and the Stranger Than Fiction series at Manhattan's IFC Center, writes on the TIFF site :

Moore’s goal during the election was to awaken apathetic young voters, and here we see Moore at his rabble-rousing best. But the real stars of the film are the immense crowds energized by his message. These scenes are an amazing foreshadowing – clearly not of Bush’s electoral defeat, but of the then-growing tide of public opinion against his administration, a tide that would eventually turn against him en masse during his second term. Moore will show segments from the work-in-progress that captures the birth of a new political generation.

Exhilarating.... no ?

The Toronto International Film Festival is now mere days away. It will run from September 7 to September 16.

The Moore night is scheduled for September 8.

I look forward to the reports (can't say "reviews", given that it will be only teasers).