James Vanderbilt – director – Truth
FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti meets James Vanderbilt, first time director of the opening film of the 10th edition of Rome Film Festival: TRUTH.
Starring Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett, Elisabeth Moss, Topher Grace and Dennis Quaid , the film explores the relationship between politics and journalism and the difficulties to access the real ugly TRUTH about facts.
TRUTH: In the lead-up to the U.S. presidential elections in 2004, veteran CBS News producer and reporter Mary Mapes and the venerable CBS News anchor Dan Rather aired a sensational report on 60 Minutes II that purported to reveal new evidence proving that President George W. Bush had possibly shirked his duty to serve in the Vietnam War by exploiting his family connections and political privilege.
But within days after the story broke, George W. Bush’s military service record was no longer the focus of media and public scrutiny. Instead, it was 60 Minutes, Mapes, and Rather who were under fire for challenging the official version of the story, and now they were facing charges of shoddy journalism.