This film about the rise to power of Donald Trump, led by Sebastian Stan (far from his role as Winter Soldier), almost never saw the light of day. The former President of the United States of America did everything to ensure that behind the scenes of his arrival in politics does not find the necessary financing to their production… We explain how The Apprentice nevertheless saw the light of day.
The Apprenticeor politics and cinema…
Projected from this Wednesday October 9 in French cinemas, The Apprentice had a complicated gestation. The film chronicles 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 matchmaker Roy Cohn. You will not be surprised to learn that the main person concerned, currently in the middle of the presidential campaign for the elections which will take place in the United States on Tuesday, November 5, did everything to ensure that this feature film never saw the light of day. During an interview with CBC, producer Daniel Bekerman returned to the “subtle” attempts at censorship to which The Apprentice.
If companies, in this case the distribution system of large corporations, are prepared to let this type of culture of fear and intimidation govern their choicesit’s a special world in which you have to live. This happened to us. And you know, maybe we’re a bit of a harbinger of the future in that regard.
That he and the director Ali Abbasi have 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, will not have stopped Donald Trump from applying pressure. The Apprentice initially lost the support of production company Kinematics under the guise of “creative differences”, after receivinga cease and desist letter from the legal team of the former president of the United States. Indeed, Dan Snyder, supporter of Kinematics and ally of Donald Trump, turned around 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 such Fahrenheit 9/11, The Dissident, Dogma. He told our colleagues at The Hollywood Reporter that almost all studios and distributors “fled the film” out of fear of possible repercussions.
They are cowards. Many people in the industry are afraid of the repercussions if Trump wins the election. And for me, it’s heartbreaking. I’d like to think we, as an industry, are better than thisand I am constantly reminded that this is not the case.
According to producer Daniel Bekerman, Tom Ortenberg is “the only distributor who had the courage to tackle this problem and do not be intimidated by these threats“. A grassroots fundraising campaign was also necessary to raise funds to produce The Apprentice. Forced to look for independent grant options outside the traditional Hollywood system, it will have undergone a complicated gestation, which augurs the worst for future political films… The final word goes to Sebastian Stan, who declared to Discussing Film that “this film was almost banned from release in the United States, which, in my eyes, makes it even more essential to watch“.
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