BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – Stepping from the House floor onto the big screen, Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has small roles in two independent documentaries that explore corporate control of the media.

One of the films, “Orwell Rolls in His Grave,” opens Monday night at Merrill’s Roxy Cinema in Burlington. Sanders and the film’s director, Robert Pappas, will attend the showing and answer questions from the audience.

“I’m not exactly Robert Redford,” Sanders joked Thursday about his recent indie film appearances. “To me, it’s a part of an effort to seize opportunities and to get a point of view across.”

Vermont’s lone congressman is one of many legislators, journalists and media watchdogs interviewed for “Orwell Rolls” and Robert Greenwald’s latest film, “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism.”

Pappas’ documentary takes a critical look at corporate-owned mass media, charging that it has homogenized and filtered the news in order to push a right-wing agenda. “Outfoxed” criticizes Fox News, accusing it of being a conservatively biased, propagandist media outlet for the Republican cause.

In both films, Sanders speaks about corporate-owned media and its control over what Americans see, hear and read.

“It’s not an accident that the average American will see more on Scott Peterson and Kobe Bryant than the disparity between the rich and the poor and the needs of the middle class,” Sanders said. “The most important issues facing the American people are very rarely discussed.”

Sanders’ views on corporate media control are well known in Vermont. He has led several town meetings on the subject, including one last year at St. Michael’s College that drew an audience of 600. Sanders is also the host of a weekly talk radio program he established, in part, to provide an alternative to politically conservative radio shows.

“Orwell Rolls” and “Outfoxed” join a host of recent documentaries that slam the conservative right and the Bush administration. Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9-11,” a scathing look at President Bush’s foreign policy, became the first documentary ever to top the box office charts.

While neither film will be shown in mainstream theaters, “Orwell Rolls” and “Outfoxed” are expected to draw large audiences. Both are sold on the Internet and receive support and promotion through left-leaning, grassroots advocacy groups such as MoveOn.org and BuzzFlash.com.

“The American people are now getting to see a different point of view than they were previously allowed to see,” Sanders said. “The more points of view you have out there, the healthier it is for our democracy and the better it is for our country.”

AP-ES-07-25-04 1500EDT