The document investigates Michael Moore and how his films impacted the documentary genre. It analyzes Moore's 2002 documentary Bowling for Columbine as the focus film, which controversially examined America's gun laws and the Columbine massacre. Two related films discussed are Fahrenheit 9/11 and SiCKO. Sources cited include reviews of Moore's films, box office data, interviews with Moore, and his Academy Award acceptance speech, showing how Moore used provocative styles and stances that pushed boundaries and sparked debate in documentaries.

1. Investigating the Controversial mind of Michael
Moore and how his films impacted the Documentary
genre.
Annotated Catalogue
Focus Film & Related
Film: Bowling For Columbine
Directory: Michael Moore
Genre: Documentary
Studio(s): Dog Eat Dog Films,
Alliance Atlantis, Salter Street
Films, United Broadcasting.
Release Date: October 11 2002
Box Office: $58 008 423
Focus Film – Bowling For Columbine: The focus film I
have chosen to help dissect the controversial mind of
Michael Moore is his 2002 Documentary, Bowling For
Columbine, which focuses on America’s laws of gun
control and some controversial happenings that were
made famous because of the use of guns. I have chosen
this film as my focus film because this truly represents
Michael Moore. It is one of Michael Moore’s more
controversial documentaries where he challenges

2. Investigating the Controversial mind of Michael
Moore and how his films impacted the Documentary
genre.
America’s laws of gun control and uses footage from the
Columbine High School Massacre in 1999.
Related Film 1 – Fahrenheit 9/11: The first related film I
have chosen for investigating Michael Moore, is his 2004
Documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, focusing on Moore’s
view of what happened to the United States after the
September 11 attacks and how the Bush Administration
used this horrific disaster as an excuse to go to war in
Afghanistan and Iraq. I have chosen this as my first
related film because it shares a lot of similarities with
my focus film, Bowling For Columbine. It is controversial
as his opinions on the September 11 Attacks offended
many people, like they did in Bowling For Columbine. He
also uses footage from the September 11 Attacks in the
documentary.
Related Film 2 – SiCKO: The second and final related film
I have chosen for research on Michael Moore is his 2004
Documentary SiCKO, in which Michael Moore looks at
the highly profitable health care industry in the United
States, compared to other nations. I have chosen SiCKO
as my second focus film because it is more different to
Bowling For Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11. Though
the film is focused on exposing something Moore highly
opposes, it is not as controversial and more upbeat,
rather than the two other films I am researching.
Sources
Internet:

3. Investigating the Controversial mind of Michael
Moore and how his films impacted the Documentary
genre.
Source 1: Box Office Mojo
This source is the website Boxofficemojo.com which
shows box office takings of all cinematically released
films, including list of highest grossing films by genre,
year, decade etc. This source has been useful to my
research as the list above shows that the Focus film and
two related films I will be investigating for Michael
Moore are all in currently in the top 10 highest grossing
Documentaries of all time, with Fahrenheit 9/11 as
number 1, grossing over $100 Million.
Source 2: Empire Online review

4. Investigating the Controversial mind of Michael
Moore and how his films impacted the Documentary
genre.
This source shows a full review of Moore’s Bowling For
Columbine by www.empireonline.com. This review is
important to my investigation of Moore’s films because
it shows how Michael Moore’s films can affect the
audience by overstepping the boundaries and asking
daring questions, sparking controversies.
Source 3: YouTube

5. Investigating the Controversial mind of Michael
Moore and how his films impacted the Documentary
genre.
This source from YouTube shows a two-part interview
Michael Moore took part in, with a German interviewer. In
the interview, Moore discusses Bowling for Columbine. This
source is important to my investigation on Michael Moore
because it allows me to let me know what Moore aimed for
when making Bowling for Columbine. Along with this is his
views on guns etc. saying he is pro-American but is
obviously getting it across in a controversial way with this
film.
Television:
Source 4: Jonathan Ross
In 2002, as part of promoting Bowling for Columbine in the
UK, Michael Moore appeared on various British talk shows,
one being BBC 1’s Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. In the
interview he discusses the film in detail and comparing
America’s gun laws with other countries. There is also a little
clip from his film shown.

6. Investigating the Controversial mind of Michael
Moore and how his films impacted the Documentary
genre.
Newspaper:
Source 5: Washington Post
This screenshot is taken from the Washington Post’s official website. It is a
review of Bowling for Columbine, written by the staff writer of the Post,
Desson Howe. I found this review in particular interesting and found it
important with my research because this review of Moore’s Documentary is
mainly mixed to negative. The review highlights the fact Moore does not
present a valid reason for the gun crime rate in America and rather rambles
on.

7. Investigating the Controversial mind of Michael
Moore and how his films impacted the Documentary
genre.
Source 6: Academy Awards
At the75th Annual Academy Awards in 2003, Michael
Moore’s film, Bowling for Columbine, won the Academy
Award for ‘Best Documentary.’ Moore gained a standing
ovation while walking to collect his award and he delivered
a very controversial speech that raised eyebrows and
garnered mixed reactions from the crowd. In his speech
Moore exclaims the fact that, “We live in a time where there
are fictitious election results that elects a fictitious
president.” This came in useful to my research for both
Bowling For Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 because Moore
won the Oscar for Bowling for Columbine, meaning it was
critically acclaimed by The Academy, and his speech, which
was filmed just a few days after President Bush sent in
American troops to Iraq, is critical of Bush and the voting
that took place in Florida, which many believed to be forged,
and “robbing” Al Gore of becoming President.

8. Investigating the Controversial mind of Michael
Moore and how his films impacted the Documentary
genre.
Source 7: Internet review

9. Investigating the Controversial mind of Michael
Moore and how his films impacted the Documentary
genre.
This screenshot shows an excerpt of an overview and a
review of the film SiCKO, written by film reviewer, Roger
Ebert.
Source 8: Interview
This is a video taken from an interview show called “in
Depth.” This interview describes in detail Moore’s
upbringing, early career, Bowling for Columbine,
controversial Oscar speech, capitalism and his other
documentaries. This source may come in handy because it is
a one-to-one interview detailing Michael Moore’s full career.

10. Investigating the Controversial mind of Michael
Moore and how his films impacted the Documentary
genre.
Source 9: Magazine article (Sight and Sound)
This is a magazine source taken from Sight and Sound. The
issue, which focuses on Michael Moore, is taken from July
2004. This source is useful for my Michael Moore research
as it details Michael Moore’s Palme d’Or award win at
Cannes Film Festival 2004.