Most years, there are usually one or two documentaries that anyone but a select few even hear about, and often the most popular isn't nominated for an Academy Award. Chubby aka Michael Moore, changed that, and Fahrenheit 9/11 has a good chance of being nominated. I'd add though that thus far Control Room (my favorite) and The Corporation perhaps are more worthy of that honor, especially because they offer a more balanced view of their subject.
Overall, there has been a little boomlet of anti-right wing movies in the last few months, Fahrenheit 9/11 being the most popular. Toss in The Hunting of The President (Clinton Impeachment), Outfoxed (and a more obscure film, Orwell Rolls in His Grave, concerning the orwellian nature of the media in general), and a documentary about Howard Zinn, and you have a virtual film festival.
I did not see the final too, partly since I'm familiar with Zinn's work (some reviews suggest the film itself is pretty tame; Matt Damon narrates, if that means anything), and the obscure anti-media film sounded a bit too much of an unbalanced rant. The Hunting of the President wasn't a rant per se, just an emphatic piece of propaganda -- a negative word, perhaps, but it definitely had that sort of feel to it. The film calmed down a bit toward the end, but the first half had too much of a tabloid feel.
One can have a point of view and still be balanced and have taste. This film had too little of both, meaning promotion of its core message (pretty much valid) is hurt in the process, except, you know, if you are one of the converted (but I am ... and still didn't quite care for it).
Outfoxed has a point of view and has taste, but isn't really balanced, though its backers say that it isn't meant to be. This is fine, though the thing is that balance (we aren't talking 50/50 here, we are talking at least some token rebuttals) generally helps one's cause. Of the propaganda films, I would say this is the best, almost an intervention of sorts given how many former Fox News workers were involved. ["My name is Joe, I am a Fox veteran."]
[I myself don't watch the station -- I'm no big fan of propaganda talk media, finding chunks of Air America rather trying as well. The film seems to treat it fairly, but obviously I cannot really say that one way or the other. I can say that the news staff seem like a swarmy bunch.]
Anyway, the film does a pretty good job showing how Fox is not just conservative, but is not really a news organization as one would usually use that word. It is sort of a throwback to the days when newspapers were strongly partisan and unbalanced. And, this truly matters when we are dealing with local stations (the film's full title is Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism) or the news source for a significant group of people.
It also is troubling when others might be influenced by it, resulting in vanilla generic news somewhat balanced, and conservative news, not balanced at all. The movie also has many hilarious parts, unless you think about how serious they really are. For one, any time I hear about Election Day 2000, I get just a tad bit depressed.
Control Room and The Corporation are the best because they are more intent in putting forth information than ramming a point of view down your thought. The films do have left leaning points of view, such as the respectability of Al Jazeera so disdained by the right wing, and the troubling power of corporations. All the same, they truly do seem to believe in the "we report, you decide" theory of journalism. A restrained tone, bits from the "other side," and films that don't seem to be talking to the "hate Bush" choir helps as well. The Corporation was probably too long, but there is a mainstream audience for films of this sort.
And, these seven documentaries aren't the only ones out there. For those who can get Free Speech TV, many others can be accessed, as well as Democracy Now! (Amy Goodman's radio program, here with pictures). I'd add that, of course, none of these are in any way conservative in nature, though Control Room can be considered a fairly neutral "You Are There" sort of feature. And, even a satire, Saved!, that kind of was meant to deal with some of them was not really that successful in doing so.
This is unfortunate, since it would be helpful to get an idea about how the other side thinks. They are not just a bunch of "evil doers" (I know a fan of Bill O'Reilly and someone who thought my attraction to Dean was pretty upsetting, and neither one fits that description). And, many of the documentaries that are around do not really offer a good account of those who would be unfriendly with their point of view.
So, though I would recommend a viewing of several of the documentaries out there, it might have been useful if the spirit of the "Fairness Doctrine" was applied a bit in this year of documentaries. Those behind these films would tell you, however, that it was Reagan that did away with it -- so, perhaps, the resulting situation is fittingly ironic.