Wondering...

Who's going to foot the bill for Fahrenheit 9/11's Oscar campaign? Lion's Gate and IFC Films, who handled stateside theatrical distribution, have little to gain now that the film is out of their hands. Abroad, the documentary is split between a more diverse international coalition than President Bush had going into Iraq, so no one company has enough vested interest.

Depending on the deal Michael Moore got, Columbia Tri-Star Home Video probably stands to benefit the most from Academy Award nominations. However, I don't know if there's any precedent for a studio that only controls home video distribution paying for an awards campaign. Even though two of the three Best Picture winners to have been released on video prior to winning were co-financed by two studios (Braveheart and Gladiator), in each case, the domestic theatrical distributor also handled domestic video. I'm not sure if there are any movies that have campaigned for awards that better fit the Fahrenheit model.

I could also see Harvey Weinstein, or even Moore himself, personally funding the effort (they've certainly made enough money off the film). We'll see.