Moore Faces Jail over Cuban Filming
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WENN.com
|
Monday, June 18, 2007
HOLLYWOOD - Controversial documentary maker Michael Moore faces jail after breaking trade laws to make parts of his hard-hitting new film, Sicko, in Cuba.
Moore hired a boat and took a group of ill 9/11 rescue workers to Guantanamo Bay in the hope of getting them the same healthcare as Al Qaeda detainees, after learning they get free teeth cleaning, eye care and nutrition counseling.
The filmmaker and the rescue workers were turned away and instead found a doctor in Havana, Cuba, willing to treat each one.
Moore shot footage of their Cuban healthcare encounter for his film, which addresses problems with the U.S. health system--and now he could find himself behind bars for his tenacity.
He explains, "The Bush administration has now launched an investigation of me and they've warned me that they're coming after me and I may have to pay civil fines or a criminal penalty of possible jail.
"There's a law that says that we cannot, as citizens, travel to Cuba or do trade with Cuba... trading with the so-called enemy.
"What they're saying is that because I went down there to make this film and that the film has value... that they could possibly confiscate (the film)."
But Moore insists he'd still do what he did to make the movie even if he knew he's be part of an investigation upon his return.
He adds, "It turns out Cuba has this incredible healthcare system for a very poor country. There's a doctor on every block, they have a lower infant mortality rate than we do, they live longer... I was kinda disgusted by that."
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