SiCKO a film by Michael Moore

Fundraising screening for Green Left and Socialist Alliance: Opening with profiles of several ordinary Americans whose lives have been disrupted, shattered, and-in some cases-ended by health care catastrophe, SiCKO makes clear that the crisis doesn't only affect the 47 million uninsured citizens-millions of others who dutifully pay their premiums often get strangled by bureaucratic red tape as well.

After detailing just how the system got into such a mess, we are whisked around the world, visiting countries including Canada, Great Britain and France, where all citizens receive free medical benefits. Finally, Moore gathers a group of 9/11 heroes - rescue workers now suffering from debilitating illnesses who have been denied medical attention in the US. He takes them to a most unexpected place, and in addition to finally receiving care, they also engage in some unexpected diplomacy.

While Moore's SiCKO follows the trailblazing path of previous hit films, the Oscar-winning Bowling for Columbine and all-time box-office documentary champ Fahrenheit 9/1, it is also something very different for Michael Moore. SiCKO is a straight-from-the-heart portrait of the crazy and sometimes cruel U.S. health care system, told from the vantage of everyday people faced with extraordinary and bizarre challenges in their quest for basic health coverage. SiCKO uses humour to tell these compelling stories, leading the audience conclude that an alternative system is the only possible answer.

For more information on the film, visit http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/ and http://www.greenleft.org.au/2007/711/36909 Thursday August 9, 6:30 pm Luna Cinema 155 Oxford Street, Leederville. Tickets: $20 solidarity / $15 waged / $12 concession. Tickets available from the Resistance Centre, 15/5 Aberdeen St, East Perth. Ph: 9218 9608