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Michael Moore: 'We can't let Flint die'

By Kristin Longley / Flint Journal

FLINT — Michael Moore — yes, the same filmmaker who chronicled Flint’s troubles in “Roger & Me” — says the city looks to be taking a turn for the better.

In an interview with The Flint Journal on Friday, Moore says he sees hope in the stirrings of new businesses downtown and in Flint’s “leaders with vision.”

Moore said Flint still is worse off than it was in 1989 when “Roger & Me” debuted, but “the seeds have been planted and there’s the beginnings of a turnaround,” he said.

Moore is in town today premiering his new film, “Capitalism: A Love Story.” He said he’s in the area fairly often to visit family.

“I have this hope with my new movie one of the things they (the world) will be saying to themselves is, ‘We can’t let Flint die,’” said Moore, who was born in Flint, went to school in Davison and returned to Flint as an adult. “I care deeply about what is going on back home.”

Moore said he’s probably given about $750,000 to various Flint-area causes in the years since “Roger & Me” came out.

“I have not abandoned Flint and I will continue to tell Flint’s story and I will continue my appeal to people around the world to care about Flint,” he said. “If they care about me and my work that means they also have to care about where I come from.”