Spielberg: 'Film-makers are braver in Bush's second term'

Steven Spielberg believes politically-charged movies have become increasingly popular during George W Bush's US presidency, because film-makers are keen to distance themselves from his policies.

The director is currently courting controversy with his Oscar-nominated film Munich - which focuses on the aftermath of terrorist action at the 1972 Olympic Games - and feels the Republican administration is not representing his interests.

He says: "Maybe I shouldn't get into this. I just feel that film-makers are much more proactive since the second Bush administration.

"I think that everybody is trying to declare their independence and state their case for the things that we believe in.

"No one is really representing us, so we're now representing our own feelings, and we're trying to strike back."