Sicko Premieres At Cannes

Sicko Premieres At Cannes

This time, the U.S. government apparently has Michael Moore in its sights. To make "Sicko," he traveled to Cuba with some rescue workers who became ill after cleaning up debris from the terror attacks in New York. In the film, he shows them getting health care in Cuba that he says was unavailable to them in the United States.

The film got a warm welcome at Cannes on Saturday where it played to a packed house. It's main message is that the U.S. health care system is driven by private industry greed. The film asks why 50 million Americans have no health care coverage, and why many who have health insurance still have trouble getting treatment.

"I understand why the Bush administration is coming after me -- I have tried to help the very people they refuse to help..."
-- Michael Moore

"Sicko" presents an emotional portrait of an array of people, including volunteer rescue heroes of the September 11 attack, who are denied needed care -- despite the fact that most are insured. And it points a finger at the source of the crisis, a profit-driven insurance industry whose "biggest accomplishment is buying our U.S. Congress" to prevent real reform.

It also focuses on the suffering caused to the nine million children living in the United States whom Moore says are left without any health cover because of the country's reliance on private insurance. 'We are the last country in the industrialized world to have this system,' the film-maker said after the screening. 'The poorest child in Britain has a longer life expectancy than the average American child.'

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I don't know what drives this lovely man to want to fix our unconscionable health care system, but I'm grateful for all the passion and love that he displays.

Sicko Premieres At Cannes