Fahrenheit 9/11 awaits censor nod

Documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11, based on the tragic events of September 11 and the George W Bush administration's headlong descent into war after that has been sent for a "review" by the Censor Board, terming the film as "requiring a second look".

The film by academy award-winning film maker Michael Moore, who had earlier made a film "Bowling for Columbine" on the shooting incident in a School in Columbine, makes startling connections between the Bush family's oil interests and the "real reason" America went to war against Iraq and Afghanistan.

It also looks into the reasons why Bush and his inner circle avoided pursuing the Saudi connection to the September 11 tragedy that rocked the US.

According to the spokesman, the film shows a nation kept in constant fear by the FBI alerts and lulled into accepting a piece of legislation, the USA Patriot Act, that infringes on basic civil rights.

"It is in this atmosphere of confusion, suspicion and dread that the Bush administration makes its headlong rush towards war in Iraq and the film takes the viewer inside the war to tell stories, not heard, illustrating the awful human loss to US soldiers and their families," he said.

The censor board's reluctance to give a certificate for screening is strange considering that the movie has been running successfully in the US since June 25, bang in the middle of a presidential election campaign.

"We were planning to release the film on October 15 in India and had sent the movie to the censor board. But we were informed by the board that the film has been referred to the information and broadcasting ministry," said a Paramount Films spokesman, handling the release of the film in India.

"They have not so far stated the exact reasons or objections to the film. Hence, we are awaiting communication from the ministry," he said.

But according to YN Engineer, the regional officer of the censor board, "the film has not been referred to the I&B ministry. It has been kept aside for a re-review by a revising committee." "The film is controversial in nature and hence we want it to be reviewed again. We are just being cautious," he said.

Incidentally, the film is in its 14th week of screening in the US. The film had been screened in around 2,000 cinema houses in the US and had not faced any censor problems in any of the countries so far, including Malaysia, where the censor rules were among the toughest, according to Paramount's spokesperson. The film had been released on June 25 in the US.

The movie was earlier slated for release in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune on October 15 and later in cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.