Fidel Loves Fahrenheit

Fidel Castro interrupted the regularly scheduled broadcasting, as it were, to show the film after it played to packed cinemas for a week, during which Cubans allegedly stood in long lines to see rough DVD copies projected at 120 cinema theaters across the island to what Reuters called "unfailing applause."

"We hope this film will lead Americans to see the reality of their government, and not only deny Bush reelection but put him on trial for the harm he has done to humanity," retired worker Armando Rodriguez told Reuters.

Cuban dissidents who saw "Fahrenheit 9/11," however, praised the United States for its freedom of expression and lamented that such criticism of a president was not allowed in Cuba, where the one-party state controls the media.

When Cuba's state-run television broadcast the gadfly filmmaker's Bush-bashing documentary last Thursday, it appeared Fahrenheit 9/11 would not be eligible for the Academy Awards. Pundits had figured the film to be a shoo-in for a Best Documentary Feature nomination.

"If it was pirated or stolen or unauthorized we would not blame the producer or distributor for that," Academy spokesman John Pavlik told E! Online.