Filmmaker Michael Moore on Friday is launching the national release of his new documentary Where to Invade Next, which is said to be both his happiest and “most subversive” movie yet.
In the film, Moore travels to countries throughout Europe and also Tunisia to “pry loose from them the tools they’ve been using to make their countries happy, shiny places,” he writes, with the goal of “show[ing] millions of Americans what these countries have been hiding from us.” Such tools range from eight weeks paid vacation in Italy, to a year of paid maternity leave in Scandinavia, to women with “true equality and power” in Tunisia, to trusting prisons in Norway.
Moore, who is known for such works as Bowling for Columbine and Capitalism: A Love Story, penned an open letter to supporters last week explaining how a recent bout of pneumonia and subsequent hospital stay forced him to cancel all television appearances promoting the film.
“I have to be honest,” Moore writes. “I’m now worried about my film’s release. I can’t fly, I have to recover, and [on February 12th] this great movie I’ve put so much of my life into is going to open in theaters—with little or no assistance from me.”
Then, in a direct appeal to his fans, Moore then calls for a “cobbled-together ‘army’ of grassroots foot soldiers” to help spread the word about the new movie, which he says “will inspire people to think about things in a different way.”
He continues:
“You are going to be seriously f***ed up by this film,” Moore adds. “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done.”
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT