British TV Network to Air Film Depicting Assassination of Bush

The head of Britain’s More4 network, an offshoot of the Channel 4 network, told a news conference Friday that the network will broadcast a dramatic, documentary-style film that shows a fictional assassination of U.S. President George W. Bush in October of 2007. Peter Dale said that "Death of a President" focuses on the many people who are linked to the crime, including a variety of suspects, investigators, Secret Service guards, and anti-war protesters who are nearby when the shooting takes place.

"Death of a President" is directed by Gabriel Range, who directed a movie in 2003 called "The Day Britain Stopped." That film showed, in similar mock-documentary style, what might happen if Britain’s transportation network suddenly ground to a halt. More4's autumn schedule for 2006 will include "The Trial of Tony Blair," a satirical mock-doc about the future resignation of the British Prime Minister.

Dale said that the network is prepared for the broadcast to upset some people, but he defended the film and called it a sophisticated piece of filmmaking. The program uses real actors combined with digital manipulation of real archival footage to show a fictional account of President Bush being gunned down by a sniper following a speech in Chicago. The investigation quickly focuses on a Syrian-born man.

"It’s an extraordinarily gripping and powerful piece of work," Dale told reporters. "A drama constructed like a documentary that looks back at the assassination of George Bush as the starting point for a very gripping detective story." The film is also scheduled to be shown at the Toronto Film Festival in September. "It’s a pointed political examination of what the war on terror did to the American body politic," Dale said. More4 plans to broadcast the film on October 9.

"It's not sensationalist, or simplistic but a very thought-provoking, powerful drama," Dale said. "I hope people will see that the intention behind it is good." Of course, he failed to expound on what "good intention" he’s referring to. The White House declined to comment on the announcement by the More4 network, saying that it would not dignify the program with a response.