Local filmmaker Mike Berger wants to clear up a few things about 9/11
By Aaron Brummet
Photograph by Dilip Vishwanat
Mike Berger doesn’t fancy himself a Michael Moore type, but he’s got more in common with the rabble rouser than he thinks: What he lacks in facial hair and frumpy clothes he makes up for in his passion for filmmaking and desire to expose the ever-elusive truth—or, at least, the truth as he sees it. See, Berger is a member of the small but vocal group of skeptical souls who believe that the U.S. government knows more about what happened on September 11 than it’s letting on. “These aren’t conspiracy theories,” he insists. “Either the government is lying or the firefighters are lying, and I’m betting the firefighters aren’t.”
Not only is Berger a member of the fraternity of doubting Thomases, but he’s also the official spokesperson for 911Truth.org, a collective of people who believe that the government allowed 9/11 to happen—and are determined to blow the whistle. A New York native—he moved to St. Louis in 1983 to study at Washington University—Berger was not always so ardent. “I started out not believing any of this,” he says. “I’ve never been politically active, and when I came across people talking about it I thought they were all nuts. Then I found out about the unusual American Airlines and United stock dealings that took place around the world before the attack. That’s what woke me up. I thought, ‘Maybe these people aren’t crazy.’”
Some call him the crazy one now—but he’s undeterred. “When you begin to look into this and the light goes on, the first response is tremendous anger and fear,” he says.
In March 2003, that response galvanized him into research, and he threw his energy into Improbable Collapse, a film that questions the events of 9/11. “I realized if you can put out a film which persuades people to look at the unanswered questions,” he says, “then you have an obligation to do so.’”
Essentially abandoning his multimillion-dollar recycling plant, Berger has become one of 9/11Truth.org’s most dedicated advocates. “I spend over 80 hours a week doing 9/11 work,” he says. “Basically I gambled my savings on this film, and if I have to go door to door with it, I’m gonna do it. I’ve gotta do it. It’s the right thing to do.”
