Film director Michael Moore visited anti-capitalist protesters participating in the Occupy Washington movement but said he would not make a movie about the demonstration.
"I\'ve been doing movies for 20 years about the subject and now the people know what they need to do," Moore told AFP on Thursday.
Wearing his trademark baseball cap, the director of "Fahrenheit 9/11," which won the Palme d\'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004, said he was in Washington for a conference.
He said he wanted to show support for the protesters camped in Freedom Plaza, a short walk from the White House.
Moore, who gained notoriety for films critical of conservative politics, said, "I thought I would stop to see if the tents are still up."
He told a few people nearby, "I\'m here to listen," not to give advice.
"I am one of your fans," shouted one of the campers before joining others who asked to be photographed with Moore.
The film director discussed his support for the "Occupy" movements that sprung up last year in cities nationwide by saying, "In any movement, the hardest thing to do is to convince the majority of people to come with you."
The majority of Americans now agree with principles of the protesters, who started with the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City, he said.
He said major corporations, such as Goldman Sachs, Citibank and Exxon Mobil, helped the movement by turning people against capitalism.
Other political movements, such as for civil rights or feminism, "took years before the majority of Americans would agree with the principles of the movement," Moore said. "This took about 10 weeks."
"People no longer believe that the American dream is for everybody," said Moore, who added he would like to see changes that are "real, not cosmetic."
In addition to protesters in Freedom Plaza calling themselves the Occupy Washington movement, other demonstrators calling themselves "Occupy DC" are encamped a few blocks away in McPherson Square.
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