September 30, 2003
Contact: George Yatchisin
(805) 893-3494
e-mail: yatchisin-g@ sa.ucsb.edu

Filmmaker/writer Michael Moore’s presentation
at the Arlington Theatre on October 26 is sold out

Summary Facts:

• Michael Moore
• Event is sold out
• Director of the Academy Award-winning Bowling for Columbine
• Author of the best-selling Stupid White Men
• One of the most provocative populist muckrakers
• Sunday, October 26
• 7 pm / Arlington Theatre, 1317 State Street, Santa Barbara
• Information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

The performance/lecture by Oscar-winning director Michael Moore on Sunday, October 26 at 7 pm at the Arlington Theatre, 1317 State Street, Santa Barbara is sold out.

Unrepentant populist provocateur, filmmaker and author Michael Moore has been challenging economic and political giants for more than two decades, emerging as one of America’s freshest and funniest political voices. His film Roger & Me appeared on more than 100 critics’ “10 Best Films of the Year” lists in 1989 and Bowling for Columbine won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2002. Stupid White Men...And Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation humorously and harshly denounces politics-as-usual and remained on The New York Times Bestseller List for over a year. Moore’s lecture is sure to be prickly and full of his trademark deadpan wit. Time magazine writes, “Michael Moore is a hybrid of two Ralphs—Kramden and Nader—and he is blessed with brilliant comic timing.”

Moore’s latest book Dude, Where’s My Country? will be published by Warner Books on October 7. A funny and pointed attack on President George W. Bush, who Moore asserts stole the Presidency, the book features provocative chapter titles such as: “7 Questions for George of Arabia,” “How to Stop Terrorism? Stop Being Terrorists!” and “Jesus W. Christ.” The book is Moore’s first salvo in an attempt at regime change in the United States. The Denver Post asserts, “Michael Moore is everything the contemporary politician isn’t. He is smart, brash, profane, hilarious, beholden to no one, and genuine in his devotion to his country.”

Moore was born in 1954 in Davison, Michigan, a suburb of Flint, then home to one of General Motors’ biggest manufacturing plants, where Moore’s father and grandfather both worked. After a career in journalism, running the alternative weekly Flint Voice and briefly editing Mother Jones, which he left after a fight with the publishers, Moore took up film, returning to chronicle the economic collapse of his hometown. Three years in the making, Roger & Me documents Moore’s quest to convince General Motors Chairman Roger B. Smith to visit Flint and witness the devastation wrought by GM plant shutdowns. The film brought Moore national attention and remains one of the top-grossing documentaries of all-time.

Moore’s one attempt at a fictional film, the 1995 satire Canadian Bacon, in which a bumbling U.S. president promotes a Cold War with Canada as a way to hide his shortcomings, was poorly received by critics and became caught in distribution limbo. Moore rebounded with the biting TV Nation, a show so successful in ruffling big business’s feathers that NBC cancelled it after one season.

Moore returned to the written word in 1996, publishing a book of political commentary Downsize This!: Random Threats from an Unarmed American that became a surprise best-seller. While promoting the book he filmed The Big One on tour across the U.S., while also tangling with Nike CEO Philip Knight about his company’s use of sweatshops in Southeast Asia. In 1999 Moore returned to television, but this time on cable outlet Bravo, with The Awful Truth, a blend of comedy and pointed political commentary similar to TV Nation.

Stupid White Men, Moore’s next book, was scheduled for publication in fall 2001 but Random House almost canceled the book when Moore refused to tone down his criticisms of the powers-that-be in general and President Bush in particular. After a protest campaign spearheaded by members of the American Library Association, Random House released the book in the spring of 2002. It went on to become the #1 Top Selling Nonfiction book of 2002, has been translated into 24 languages and has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.

Moore’s successes in 2002 continued with the release of Bowling for Columbine, an examination of America’s obsession with guns and violence. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Moore used his acceptance speech as a chance to deride the United States’ attack on Iraq, which began just days before the Oscar ceremony. The event further polarized public opinion about this firebrand who on his website exhorts, “This is not the time for the majority of us who believe in a peaceful America to be quiet. Make your voices heard. Despite what they have pulled off, it is still our country.”

Courtesy of Borders Books, works by Michael Moore will be available for purchase and signing at the evening event. This event is presented by the UCSB Associated Students Program Board and UCSB Arts & Lectures, and is sponsored by the Santa Barbara Independent, KCSB 91.9 FM, the Santa Barbara Inn and Borders.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.