LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Filmmaker Michael Moore says he is willing to give up a chance to compete in the Oscar race for best documentary with his anti-Bush movie “Fahrenheit 9/11″ in order to have it shown on television before the U.S. presidential election in November.

Under rules established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, documentaries shown on television within nine months of their theatrical release are ineligible for the documentary Oscar.

In a message posted on Monday on his Web site, Moore said distributors will instead enter “Fahrenheit 9/11″ in the Oscar contest for best picture, which does not have the same rules on television showings. No documentary film has ever been nominated for the Academy’s top prize.

But some Oscar watchers have speculated that keeping “Fahrenheit 9/11,” a scathing commentary on Bush’s conduct of the war in Iraq, out of the running for best documentary may help its chances to be nominated in the coveted best picture category.

“If there is even the remotest of chances that I can get this film seen by a few million more Americans before election day, then that is more important to me than winning another documentary Oscar,” Moore said in a statement.

Moore said that the distributor for his film’s upcoming DVD release, set for October 5, would be unlikely to allow it to be shown on TV, presumably for fear of diminishing its value in the home-video market.

But the filmmaker said he remained determined to arrange for a TV debut of the film before the U.S. presidential election in November in hopes that wider exposure of his blistering critique of President George W. Bush would help defeat him at the polls.

Moore won the Academy Award for best feature documentary in 2003 for his study of gun violence in America, “Bowling for Columbine.”

“Fahrenheit” already has grossed more than $116 million (65 million pounds) at the U.S. box office, making it the most commercially successful regular-format documentary of all time. Only giant-screen Imax documentaries have generated greater ticket sales.

Filmmakers and producers submit their work for Academy Award consideration, but nominations and awards are based on votes of Academy members.

PS:Reuters is one of only a few news providers that attempted to report this story as it actually was without implying a greedy will on the part of Michael Moore in the Best Picture nomination.
Quote from MichaelMoore.com (The only place on the website where the “Best Picture” nomination is mentioned):

…I have informed our distributors of my decision. They support me (in fact, they then offered to submit our film for all the other categories it is eligible for, including Best Picture — so, hey, who knows, maybe I’ll get to complete that Oscar speech from 2003! Sorry, just kidding)…
-Michael Moore