The Oscar-winning film-maker Michael Moore was present at the Toronto Film Festival to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Roger & Me. Many documentary film-makers have lost a sense of humour, he said in his keynote speech..
The innovative, refreshing documentary Roger & Me dealt vividly with the effects of the closure of the General Motors plants in his hometown of Flint, Michigan.
Moore declared that nany film-makers, particularly on the left, no longer had a sense of humour. "People don't want medicine, they want popcorn," he said. "Entertainment is the big dirty word of documentary. 'Oh no, I've entertained someone. I've cheapened my movie."
Moore remembered how he took a cinema seat around in a van when he shot Roger & Me just to remind the crew about the audience. "If you want to make a speech, join a political party," he said. "If you want to give a sermon become a priest. Want to give a lecture? Be a teacher. Make a movie - if you make a movie, people might go and see your documentary."
Moore's 2004 film, Fahrenheit 9/11, is the highest-grossing documentary of all time, taking close to $120m (€93m equivalent) at the US box office to date.
The film launched a blistering attack on the Bush administration's case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the relative absence of dissent by the mainstream media. it won the Palme d'Or at the 2004 Cannes film festival. Bowling for Columbine won the director the Best Documentary Oscar for his 2003 film.
