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Taking the Cause to the Big Screen

David N. Bossie, president of the conservative group Citizens United, co-produced
David N. Bossie, president of the conservative group Citizens United, co-produced "Border War," a movie that advocates cracking down on illegal immigration. (By Lucian Perkins -- The Washington Post)
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"The contrasts are startling. 'Fahrenheit' Bush was a deer in the headlights; 'Celsius' Bush is a deer hunter," read a review in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. ". . . 'Fahrenheit' Bush barely could speak in complete sentences; 'Celsius' Bush delivers confident speeches. And so on."

The movie may not have created the buzz that "Fahrenheit 9/11" did, but it did go on to be shown in 125 theatres and to be reproduced on 200,000 DVDs, many of which were given to Citizens United supporters. "One thing I learned is you can have impact with that medium," Bossie said. "I also learned that I can make films. And you don't have to make them in Hollywood."

He had editing equipment installed in the basement of Citizens United's Capitol Hill headquarters and has gone on to make a film excoriating the United Nations, before shooting "Border War."

Films have long been used as propaganda. Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" series was commissioned to explain U.S. policy during World War II and to answer the German 1935 film, "Triumph of the Will," which glorified Adolf Hitler and the Nazi cause.

But the use of films as weapons in the political and ideological battles in Washington is a relatively new development aided by advances in digital technology, which makes editing and distribution cheap and easy. It also is being helped along by Moore's success.

"This is just an obvious outcome of the polarization that is happening in this country," said Malcolm Spaull, chairman of the film school at the Rochester Institute of Technology. "In this case, it is through the media. I only see this growing."

Bossie says he has two more film projects in the pipeline. One, about the American Civil Liberties Union, is scheduled for a fall release. The other is about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who is widely believed to be positioning herself for a 2008 presidential run. Bossie said he is teaming with Dick Morris, the former Clinton media adviser, on that one.

Asked when it will be released, Bossie said, "At the right time."


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