Documentary Filmmaker Michael Moore says Borat Inspired Him to Visit Cuba
By Ray McDonald
Washington
02 July 2007
Michael Moore
The documentary filmmaker, whose latest movie Sicko opened nationwide June 29, met Borat creator Sasha Baron Cohen at last year's Toronto International Film Festival.
Cohen screened Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. It went on to gross more than $100 million. Cohen told Moore he had drawn inspiration from the documentarian's previous films, in which he often put himself into uncomfortable situations.
Moore said he, in turn, looked to Borat to muster the courage to sail into the mined waters near the U.S. prison facility at Guantanamo, Cuba.
The scene in Sicko features Moore calling to guards at the prison, which houses terror suspects captured in military operations. Moore journeyed there seeking health care for ailing September 11 rescue workers who were having trouble receiving health care in the United States.
After getting no response from Guantanamo, Moore took the workers to Cuba, where they received treatment.
The U.S. Treasury Department began an investigation in May on whether Moore's trip violated the trade embargo prohibiting travel to Cuba.
source:
http://www.voanews.com
