Moore Film Dials 911

A posting on Interesting-People.org. US adverts for Moore's movie Fahrenheit 9/11 could be stopped from July 30 if the Federal Election Commission (FEC) accepts the legal advice of its lawyers.

At the same time, a Republican-allied 527 soft-money group is preparing to file a complaint against Moores film with the FEC for violating campaign-finance law.

The FEC's have been advised that political documentary filmmakers may not air television or radio ads referring to federal candidates within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election.

The opinion is generated under the new McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law, which prohibits corporate-funded ads that identify a federal candidate before a primary or general election.

This could also affect promotion of a number of other upcoming political documentaries and films, such as Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War, which opens in August, The Corporation, about democratic institutions being subsumed by the corporate agenda, or
Silver City, a recently finished film by John Sayles that criticizes the Bush administration, The Hunting of the President, which investigates whether Bill Clinton was the victim of a vast conspiracy, could be subject to regulations if it mentions Bush or members of Congress in its ads.

Since the FEC considers the Republican presidential convention scheduled to begin Aug. 30 a national political primary in which Bush is a candidate, Moore and other politically oriented filmmakers could not air any ad mentioning Bush after July 30.