This film about Donald Trump's rise to power, led by Sebastian Stan (a far cry from his role as The Winter Soldier), almost never saw the light of day. The former president of the United States of America did everything he could to ensure that the backstage of his arrival in politics did not find the necessary funding their production… We explain how The Apprentice nevertheless saw the light of day.
The Apprentice, or politics and cinema…
Screened since Wednesday, October 9 in French cinemas, TheApprenticehad a complicated gestation. The film tells the story of the rise to power of a still young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan, unrecognizable), thanks to a pact with the devil-or rather, with conservative lawyer and political go-between Roy Cohn. You won't be surprised to learn that the main person concerned, currently in the middle of a presidential campaign for the elections that will take place in the United States on Tuesday, November 5, did everything he could to ensure that this feature film never saw the light of day. During an interview with CBC producer Daniel Bekerman has spoken out about the “subtle” censorship attempts that have been made against TheApprentice.
If companies, in this case the distribution system of large corporations, are willing to let this kind of culture of fear and intimidation govern their choices, it's a special world to live in. It's happened to us. And you know, we're maybe a bit of a harbinger of the future in that respect.
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That he and director Ali Abbasi repeatedly insisted that the film is in no way a “documentary” or political propaganda (which, de facto, is impossible), but rather an emotional character study, did not stop Donald Trump from applying pressure. TheApprentice initially lost the support of production company Kinematics under the guise of “creative differences” after receiving a cease and desist letter from the former US president's legal team. Indeed, Dan Snyder, a Kinematics supporter and Donald Trump ally, changed his mind when he realized that the project, contrary to what he thought, was not flattering to the politician.
Besieged from all sides, the film had little chance of seeing the light of day… But that was without counting on Tom Ortenberg, the founder of the independent distributor Briarcliff Entertainment, known for his commitment to very touchy projects such as Fahrenheit 9/11, The Dissident, Dogma. He told The Hollywood Reporter that nearly every studio and distributor is “running away from the movie” for fear of the possible repercussions.
They're cowards. A lot of people in the industry are afraid of the repercussions if Trump wins the election. And to me, that's heartbreaking. I like to think that we, as an industry, are better than that., and I'm constantly reminded that's not the case.
According to producer Daniel Bekerman, Tom Ortenberg is “the only distributor who had the courage to tackle this issue and not be intimidated by these threats.” A grassroots fundraising campaign was also necessary to raise money to produce The Apprentice. Forced to seek independent funding options outside the traditional Hollywood system, it had a complicated gestation, which bodes well for future political films… The final word goes to Sebastian Stan, who told Discussing Film that “this film was almost banned from release in the US, which in my eyes makes it even more essential viewing“.