Michael Moore is mad as hell about documentaries and foreign films being crowded out of theatres, and he is not going to take it anymore.

"My new year's resolution is to sit down with the heads of exhibition chains and have them devote one screen in their multiplexes to non-fiction and foreign films," Moore said.

He says he has spoken with fellow documentary directors to join him in the initiative, including board members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' documentary branch. It is still unclear if AMPAS will be officially involved.

The director of four of the top-grossing docos of all time (Fahrenheit 9/11, Roger and Me, the Oscar-winning Bowling for Columbine and the just-announced Oscar nominee Sicko) wants to use his influence with exhibitors to make this happen.

"If not me, then who?" he said. "I'm the one who got through the door."

Moore's motivation is the declining box office performance of independent films last year, in which many were taken out of theatres before they had a chance to build word-of-mouth business.

He says it is an extension of his work promoting fellow indie film-makers at his annual Traverse City Film Festival.

"People want to see documentaries, but there's a disconnect between that desire and the exhibitors out there," said Moore, adding he had been planning the initiative for several months.

"We're not asking for charity," he said.

"This could be on the 15th screen of a multiplex that would otherwise have the sixth showing of the new Harry Potter movie. Some of these films make $US200 or $US300 per screen."

Moore says he has also spoken with marketers and publicists around the country who have agreed to donate their time to publicise the campaign.

He hopes to break these films out of "the art house ghetto" by having them play in suburban theatres throughout Middle America, where they are not often shown.

The director says the initiative may begin with exhibitors devoting one night a week to these films, instead of one screen per multiplex.

Moore plans to announce details of the initiative at a news conference timed around the Oscars.

- Reuters