Moore is the people's choice

Michael Moore has won the best film prize at the US People's Choice Awards for Fahrenheit 9/11.

11:03 11 January 2005

Michael Moore has won the best film prize at the US People's Choice Awards for Fahrenheit 9/11.

The awards are voted for by the American public, representing a popular win among the masses for the director renowned for his anti-Bush, anti-corporate messages.

A total of 21 million American voters picked the winners over the internet, marking what Moore called "an historic occasion".

"This country is still all of ours, not right or left or Democrat or Republican," he told the award ceremony in California, dedicating his win to the soldiers fighting in Iraq.

Among other winners were the animated classic Shrek 2, with the voice of Antonio Banderas among others, Julia Roberts, whose winning smile stole the best female prize, and delectable Johnny Depp, who took the best male movie star category.

Another controversial film of 2004, The Passion of the Christ, directed by Hollywood old-hand Mel Gibson, was voted best drama.

Gibson described backstage how he held the People's Choice Awards in higher esteem than the Oscars, which are voted for by a small, select group, because to him they represent "the ultimate goal because one doesn't make work for the elite".