TEHRAN, July 02 (ISNA)-Writer, producer and director, Michael Moore is to come to Iran for the screening of his new production SICKO in the first international documentary film festival held here.
This festival will be held from the 15th to the 19th of October in Tehran.
According to reports in SICKO, Michael Moore interviews Americans who have been denied treatment by the U.S. health care insurance companies, whose policies are designed to maximize profits at the expense of providing essential care. The consequences of these individuals' plights range from bankruptcy to the unnecessary deaths of loved ones.
Moore then looks at universal free health care systems in Canada, France, Britain, and Cuba, debunking all the fears (lower quality of care, poorer compensation for doctors, big-government bureaucracy) that have been used to dissuade Americans from establishing such a system here. The roots of those health care systems are explored, and our failure to establish free health here care is traced to a) President Richard Nixon's deceptive support of the then-emerging HMOs pursuing huge profits and b) subsequent pressures for Congress to sacrifice sound health care in favor of corporate profit.
A group of Americans who became ill from volunteering at 911 Ground Zero, but were refused health coverage for their illnesses, are ferried by Moore to Cuba, where they receive the top-rate, free care one would hope they'd get here at home.
In his interviews, historical reportage, and typical sarcastic wit, Moore soundly condemns American health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and the politicians who have been paid millions to do their bidding. He makes the case that there is something wrong with Americans that we cannot learn from the successes of other countries in providing better quality-of-health than we enjoy in the USA.
Michael Moore was born in Flint, Michigan April 23 1954. He studied journalism at the University of Michigan-Flint, but also pursued other hobbies such as Gun shooting, for which he even won a competition. Michael started working as an editor for the journal of the University he attended at the beginning to his journalism career. He then turned to filmmaking, and to earn the money for the budget of his first film Roger & Me (1989) he ran neighborhood bingo games. He eventually got himself into leading a string of documentaries and TV series all predominantly around the same subject; attacks on politicians and business corporations, getting his opinion around and about. He landed his first big hit with Bowling for Columbine (2002) about the bad points of the freedom of weapon holding in America, which earned him an Oscar and a big reputation. He then shook the world with his even bigger hit Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) - making fun of President George W. Bush. Michael is known for having the guts to give his opinion in public, which not many people are courageous enough to do, and for that is respected by many.
