http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...MNGL5KU7MO1.DTL

Britain abuzz over film depicting killing of Bush
'Death of President' called publicity ploy, cautionary scenario
Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post

Saturday, September 2, 2006

(09-02) 04:00 PDT London -- Nearly every British newspaper Friday carried photos of the assassination of President Bush -- or at least the eerily realistic depiction of it from a new documentary-style television film that is causing an uproar in Britain.

The film, "Death of a President," has been alternatively derided as a tasteless publicity grab and defended as a serious look at a plausible event that could have dramatic ramifications for the world.

"It's a disturbing film," said Peter Dale, head of More4, the television channel that will broadcast the film next month, after its Sept. 10 premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

"It raises questions about the effects of American foreign policy, and particularly the war on terror," said Dale, who denied criticism that the film made an anti-Bush or anti-American political statement. "It's a fairly attention-grabbing premise, but behind that is a serious and thought-provoking film."

In the film, Bush is assassinated by a sniper after making a speech in Chicago in October 2007. The investigation immediately centers on a Syrian-born gunman, and a shocked nation confronts the war on terror in the post-Bush era.

Dale said the assassination scene, which comes about 10 minutes into the 90-minute film, is a glimpse rather than "a gratuitously lengthy-gazing kind of scene." He said it was "very small in comparison to the blood and death we see daily in the news" from Iraq.

"We know some people are going to be offended," Dale said. "But you always risk offending people when you open people's eyes to the way the world is. Sometimes the truth is a bit unpalatable."

At the White House, spokesman Emily Lawrimore said of the film: "We are not commenting because it doesn't dignify a response."

Some critics in London scoffed at arguments that the film was a serious piece of filmmaking. Several said More4, which began broadcasting 10 months ago, was more interested in ratings than in exploring vital matters of public interest.

"It's about hype rather than a serious matter," said Roy Greenslade, a noted British media critic, who said the film "crossed the line" and was "obviously tasteless."

Britons awoke Friday morning to see their morning newspapers carrying a black-and-white promotional photo, with a sort of Dallas-in-1963 feel, showing a mortally wounded Bush dying in a Secret Service agent's arms. Other agents draw guns, cameras flash, and people dive for cover in the photo, which was an actual filmed scene with Bush's head added later to an actor's body by computer.

Greenslade said the photos are so realistic that for a second he thought Bush had been assassinated. He said creating such a realistic image of Bush being killed "could convince crazy people that this might be a good idea."

"I'm sure they will cloak it by saying there's a serious point to be made," Greenslade said. "But isn't there another way? If it had been a fictional president, wouldn't it have made the same point? It just beggars belief that this is the best way to make a serious point."

Dale defended the use of Bush's image, rather than a fictional president, because using a fictional character "wouldn't have the same kind of resonance."

"It's absolutely legitimate to deal with contemporary named figures," he said. "I would urge people to see the film and see if they think it is fair."

More4 is one of three satellite channels affiliated with Channel 4, a major independent television channel in Britain.

The channel has made a name for itself with controversial films, such as last year's "A Very Social Secretary," a biting satire about former cabinet minister David Blunkett's affair with a British magazine editor.

Prime Minister Tony Blair will get a roasting of his own in November, when the channel plans to air the comedy, "The Trial of Tony Blair." Dale said the film was a satire depicting Blair's life after he leaves office, including an arrest on charges of waging an illegal war in Iraq.

My opinion: it's in poor taste. No matter how much we despise the man, I don't think this is something you do. Perhaps after the person is already dead, but not while he/she is still living.

Well, right or wrong, Bush has made just about everyone in the world hate him. So a movie like this really doesn't surprise me.

That's how I feel. I refuse to stoop to the level of wishing illness or pain on someone, no matter how much I don't like them.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/...reut/index.html

Bush assassination movie gets U.S. deal

TORONTO, Ontario (Reuters) -- After you kill off President George W. Bush in a fictional film, what do you do? How about make a deal.

Gabriel Range, the British producer/director/creator of "Death of a President," the fictional documentary that sight unseen became one of the most talked-about movies of the Toronto Film Festival, has sold U.S. distribution rights to Newmarket Films, which handled Mel Gibson's equally provocative movie "The Passion of the Christ."

Newmarket, which reportedly paid $1 million for the film, is expected to give "President" a wide release within the next few months. It will air on Britain's Channel 4 next month.

Range's film opened on Sunday night to a sell-out festival crowd, which sat respectfully through it and applauded briefly at the end. Those who remained after the screening peppered the filmmaker with questions on how he achieved his special effects.

The film is shot as if it were a conventional television documentary, even though the events are fictional.

Range, who also co-wrote the film, uses footage taken of Bush during three visits to Chicago to create the scenes that lead up to the president being shot.

He also uses special digital effects to superimpose the head of the president on that of an actor pretending to be shot, and he creates a flowery eulogy delivered by President Dick Cheney at the funeral of his predecessor.

The movie opens with demonstrations against Bush as he visits Chicago in 2007. As he leaves a hotel after delivering a speech, he is shot by a sniper in a nearby building.

A police hunt leads to the arrest of a Palestinian man on flimsy evidence. Later the man is convicted of the assassination and kept in prison even as evidence points to another person as having committed the crime.

"The reaction of the general public was very good," Range said in an interview with Reuters about the opening night response.

"People didn't know what to expect. Our film has a very striking premise but it is not sensational or gratuitous. I hope people will see it as a balanced film and compelling drama. It is an oblique look at the ways the United States has changed since 9/11. We use the lens of the future to explain the past."

The 93-minute film's subject matter has led to protests in the United States, especially from conservatives. Range said he has received five or six death threats.

But he said that was because there was a rush to judgment about his film, without people knowing what was in it. "We portrayed the horror of assassination. I don't think anyone would get the idea of assassinating Bush from this film," Range said.

I still say it's in poor taste. :bad:

It may be in poor taste, but I won't hide the fact that I hate, loathe and despise Thief George W. Bush. I will never forgive him for stealing 2000 election from my president, AL GORE or anything else he's done since. :angry:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/17/...in2015746.shtml

Bush Shooting Film Gets Critics' Nod

TORONTO, Sept. 17, 2006

(AP) The unheralded "Bella," Mexican-born director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde's feature film debut, took the top audience prize at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival, while international critics gave an award to the controversial British TV movie "Death of a President," which centers on a fictionalized assassination of George W. Bush.

"Bella," a romantic film which tells the story of a former Mexican soccer star turned chef (Mexican actor Eduardo Verastegui) and a troubled waitress (American stage actress Tammy Blanchard) whose lives converge and turn upside down during a single day in New York, was the surprise winner of the People's Choice Award voted on by festival audiences.

"This festival has been so, so amazing," Monteverde said as he accepted the award at the festival's closing reception Saturday night at the Hilton Hotel. "They treat the little ones and the big ones the same. ... Thank you, Toronto film festival, for allowing film-makers like myself who come from nothing to come here."

Monteverde, who was born in Mexico but moved to the United States as a teenager, earlier this year married actress and former Miss USA Ali Landry, who has a supporting role in the U.S.-produced "Bella."

Last year's People's Choice Award winner, the South African film "Tsotsi," won the Oscar for best foreign- language film.

French director Patrice Leconte's buddy film "Mon meilleur ami" was the first runner-up for the People's Choice Award, followed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck's documentary "Dixie Chicks: Shut up and Sing," which chronicles the trio's transition from country music darlings to bold symbols for freedom of expression after their criticism of President Bush sparked a strong backlash.

British director Gabriel Range's "Death of a President" stirred up a strong reaction even before it premiered at the festival, but it won the Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize). The jury of film critics cited the film "for the audacity with which it distorts reality to reveal a larger truth."

"Death of a President," which was bought by Newmarket Films and is slated to air Oct. 9 on an offshoot of Britain's Channel 4 network, chronicles the sniper shooting of Bush on Oct. 19, 2007, during a trip to Chicago and the ensuing investigation.

The film blends archival footage of Bush interspersed with fierce anti-war protests and other fictional scenes crafted by the filmmakers. Actors posing as administration officials and Secret Service agents were digitally grafted into some images of the president and his entourage. The filmmakers said they chose to use Bush rather than substitute a fictitious president to heighten the authenticity.

"I'm thrilled that the film is going to be shown in theaters both here and in the U.S. in the near future," Range said Saturday. "That's proof that people can see beyond the premise and see that it's a film about this post-9/11 world that we live in."

Other prizes announced Saturday night included the Swarovski Cultural Innovation Award which went to "Takva — A Man's Fear of God," a Turkish-German co-production about a man whose belief in God is put to the test, and the Diesel Discovery Award, voted on by the festival press corps, which went to Norwegian director Joachim Trier's feature debut "Reprise," a comedy about two young men with a shared dream of becoming writers.

The festival, which screened 352 films over 10 days, closed on Saturday with the world premiere of British director Michael Apted's "Amazing Grace," which tells the story of William Wilberforce, a British parliament member who led abolitionists in their crusade to end the slave trade in the late 18th century. The film stars Ioan Gruffudd as Wilberforce, international music star Youssou N'Dour, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon and Albert Finney, among others.