Student Makes Documentary on Moore

NewsMax ^ | 1/31/05 | AP

[wagglebee]

A former Brigham Young University film student has maxed out his credit cards to make a $10,000 documentary about "Fahrenheit 9/11" director Michael Moore's controversial visit to Utah Valley State College.

"This Divided State" premieres Thursday at UVSC's Ragan Theater. Steven Greenstreet, who cut the 102-minute production from 66 hours of interview and event footage, said he's trying to find a distributor. He's entering the documentary in a dozen film festivals, and plans are in the works with the Center for American Progress to fund a national college tour, the 25-year-old filmmaker said.

Greenstreet had been working on a documentary about political divisions when he heard in September that Moore was planning to come to UVSC.

"I immediately just grabbed my camera and ran to the school and filmed the whole day," he said. "The halls were packed with students ... it was just a huge crush of political debate and an overwhelming sense of activity and electricity."

Moore arrived Oct. 20, applauding student leaders who took heat for inviting him and paying the $40,000 speaker fee with student money. Nine days earlier the college had invited Sean Hannity, a conservative Fox News commentator, to balance Moore's criticism of President Bush and the war in Iraq.

As with the visit, Greenstreet's film is stirring some emotions.

Kay Anderson, a real estate broker who offered student leaders $25,000 to rescind Moore's invitation, has written a letter to Greenstreet's lawyer asking that his interviews not appear in the film.

"We were cautious about who we granted interviews to," Anderson said. "We didn't want to end up in a Michael Moore-type documentary."

Said Greenstreet: "Without the personal interview that I did with him, he doesn't get a chance to explain his motivation. I think my main purpose for doing the interview was to humanize him and show him as just another member of the community who wants to do what's right."

[Falcon4.0]

He should call Clint Eastwood!

[Chummy]

"'I immediately just grabbed my camera and ran to the school'..." said the young filmmaker.

...and one would presume a wide-angle lens.

[Falcon4.0]

oops scratch that idea.

[whee0071]

This documentary was featured as a Feb. 1 lead story on Yahoo.com.

I don't remember ever seeing Celsius 41.11, Michael Moore Hates America, FarenHYPE 9/11, or Michael & Me as a featured mainstream headline.

Based upon the coverage and the fact that this was a positive story pulled from an AP feed, I think it's a safe assumption to say that this is going to be a left-sympathetic production.

I hope I'm wrong.

[Lonely Bull]

I agree. Here are a few interesting points from the article, which as you may have noticed doesn't disclose too much about this filmmaker or the resulting product:

• "...plans are in the works with the Center for American Progress to fund a national college tour, the 25-year-old filmmaker said." [emphasis added]
• Kay Anderson, who has asked not to appear in the film, "offered student leaders $25,000 to rescind Moore's invitation." I can see how this point could go either way, but given how other things are leaning, guess what I'm suspecting.