Fahrenheit 9/11 is a 2004 American documentary film directed and written by, and starring filmmaker, director, political commentator and activist Michael Moore.

In the film, Moore states that American corporate media were cheerleaders for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and did not provide an accurate or objective analysis of the rationale for the war and the resulting casualties there.

Moore says that Bush was informed of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center on his way to an elementary school in Florida.

Moore suggests that the Bush administration induced a climate of fear among the American population through the mass media.

Moore then describes purported anti-terror efforts, including government infiltration of pacifist groups and other events, and the signing of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Originally planned to be financed by Mel Gibson's Icon Productions (which planned to give Michael Moore eight figures in upfront cash and potential backend),[5] Fahrenheit 9/11 was later picked up by Miramax Films and Wild Bunch in May 2003 after Icon Productions had abruptly dropped the financing deal it made.

According to the book DisneyWar, Disney executives did not know that Miramax agreed to finance the film until they saw a posting on the Drudge Report.

[7] Disney responded by having Peter Murphy send Weinstein a letter stating that the film's $6 million budget was only a bridge financing and Miramax would sell off its interest in the movie to get those $6 million back; according to the same letter, Miramax was also expected to publicly state that it would not release the film.

[17] The film was released theatrically by The Fellowship Adventure Group through a distribution arrangement with Lions Gate Entertainment.

Its opening weekend earned more than the entire U.S. theatrical run of any other feature-length documentary (including Moore's previous film, Bowling for Columbine).

[19] Fahrenheit 9/11 was screened in a number of Middle Eastern countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Egypt, but was immediately banned in Kuwait.

The Saudi ruling elite subsequently launched an advertising campaign spanning nineteen US cities to counter criticism partly raised in the film.

[22] Democratic members of the Coalition Provisional Authority in U.S.-occupied Iraq had the film screened at the Republican Palace in Baghdad.

[23] In Cuba, bootlegged versions of the film were shown in 120 theaters, followed by a prime-time television broadcast by the leading state-run network.

It had been widely reported that this might affect its Oscar eligibility, since the film was broadcast on television less than nine months after its theatrical release.

However, soon after that story had been published, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a statement denying this, saying, "If it was pirated or stolen or unauthorized we would not blame the producer or distributor for that".

The issue became moot when Moore decided to forgo Oscar eligibility, in favor of a pay-per-view televising of the film on November 1, 2004.

The site's critics' consensus reads: "Extremely one-sided in its indictment of the Bush administration, but worth watching for the humor and the debates it'll stir.

[26] Film critic Roger Ebert, who gave the documentary three and a half stars out of four, said that the film "is less an exposé of George W. Bush than a dramatization of what Moore sees as a failed and dangerous presidency", adding: "Moore brings a fresh impact to familiar material by the way he marshals his images".

[27] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal described the film as "rambling, troubling and sometimes rousing", and wrote: "At its best, "Fahrenheit 9/11" is an impressionist burlesque of contemporary American politics that culminates in a somber lament for lives lost in Iraq.

"[28] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Michael Moore's anti-Bush polemic gave millions of frustrated liberals exactly what they needed to hear in 2004—and infuriated just about everyone else.

[…] I dedicate this Palme d'Or to my daughter, to the children of Americans and to Iraq and to all those in the world who suffer from our actions.Some conservatives in the United States, such as Jon Alvarez of FireHollywood, commented that such an award could be expected from the French.

[37] Moore had remarked only days earlier that: "I fully expect the Fox News Channel and other right-wing media to portray this as an award from the French.

'"[40] In comments to the prize-winning jury in 2005, Cannes director Gilles Jacob said that panels should make their decision based on filmmaking rather than politics.

He expressed his opinion that though Moore's talent was not in doubt, "it was a question of a satirical tract that was awarded a prize more for political than cinematographic reasons, no matter what the jury said".

[48] Former Democratic mayor of New York City Ed Koch, who had endorsed President Bush for re-election, called the film propaganda "for its many blatant lies".

Michael Moore, while not endorsing presidential candidate John Kerry, stated in interviews that he hoped "to see Mr. Bush removed from the White House".

Because Moore had opted to have it played on television prior to the 2004 election, the film was ruled ineligible to compete for the Best Documentary Feature in the Academy Awards.

[citation needed] In February 2011, Moore sued producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein for US$2.7 million in unpaid profits from the film, stating that they used "Hollywood accounting tricks" to avoid paying him the money.

[53] On September 6, 2018, Moore released a film entitled Fahrenheit 11/9 about the 2016 United States presidential election and the subsequent presidency of Donald Trump.