Editing Roger & Me (section)

===Release===
The film had its worldwide premiere at the [[Toronto International Film Festival]] in September 1989.  It was well received by the Canadian audience with it winning the coveted TIFF People's Choice Award. Coincidentally, only a few weeks later, GM would announce the closing of their [[Scarborough Van Assembly|Toronto truck assembly plant]], moving vehicle production to a plant in Flint, Michigan.

Moore briefly entered negotiations with [[Disney]] to distribute the film, meeting with CEO [[Michael Eisner]]. [[Warner Bros.]] gave Moore $3 million for distribution license, a very large amount for a first-time filmmaker and (at the time) unprecedented for any documentary. Part of the distribution deal required [[Warner Bros.]] to pay $25,000 in rent for two years for the families evicted in the film. Moore also donated 20,000 free tickets to unemployed Americans, stipulated that between 30 and 40 percent of his and the producers' profits would be donated to a new non-profit foundation supporting similar political documentaries.<ref name=":1" /><ref>"Roger & Me," commentary by Michael Moore in special features added in 2003 to the DVD. December 2003</ref>

To promote the film's planned national release in 965 theaters, Moore and the film's crew toured 65 GM plants around the country making demands such as a visit by Smith to Flint. During the film's marketing campaign, GM and some commentators challenged the veracity of the film's claims. GM refused to allow advertisements to its automobiles to play during television programs promoting the film, including an episode of ''[[The Phil Donahue Show]]'' filmed live at the [[Whiting Auditorium]] and an episode of ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' featuring Moore as a guest. After Moore's appearance, GM's media relations chief Bill Ott mailed guest host [[Jay Leno]] a packet of news articles challenging his claims.<ref name=":1" />

The film premiered in Flint on December 19, 1989, and was released in New York City and Los Angeles one day later.<ref name=":1" /> It went on to become America's most successful documentary in its theatrical run and enjoyed wide critical acclaim, earning $12 million. Moore used $1 million of the film's gross to donate to charities such as the [[National Union of the Homeless]], [[Earth First!]], the Jewish Women's Coalition to End the Occupation, and the [[United Auto Workers]] faction New Directions. He also allocated $10,000 to rent payments or homeless shelters around Flint, and $20,000 to revive the Flint Voice.

Despite its success, the film was not nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film|Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]] in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals/oscar-and-roger-and-me|title=Oscar and "Roger & Me"|last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=February 25, 1990|access-date=December 1, 2013}}</ref> The film's lack of a nomination was controversial; on the night of the [[62nd Academy Awards]], Moore attended a ceremony arranged by homelessness activists across the street which presented him with a "People's Award." Three years later, an anonymous member of the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] confirmed to ''[[Los Angeles Times|The Los Angeles Times]]'' that the film was deliberately not nominated because the documentary committee believed it was "dishonest and unfair to its subjects."<ref name=":1" />