Footage of Bush's assassination

Posted by David DeGraw at 3:18 PM on September 13, 2006.

In the first (top) video clip to the right we feature the Bush assassination scene from the controversial new fictional documentary, Death of a President.

The Daily Mail reports:

"Computer generated imagery grafted the head of the real George Bush onto that of an actor for the sensational moment when the president is slain by two bullets from an assassin's rifle.…

The movie unfolds as a retrospective documentary that interviews fictional former Secret Service and FBI investigators and members of the Bush administration after the President's death. They discuss the run up to a speech Bush was to give in Chicago 2007 and how 12,000 demonstrators took to the streets waving placards which read 'War Is Terrorism' and 'Stop Bush'.

The film use archival footage of Bush actually arriving in Chicago, combining it with actors playing his various aides. After Bush makes a speech we see him in a holding room taking a breather before exiting the hotel's conference centre…. Seconds later shots are fired and Bush slumps to the ground. There are news bulletins about him being taken to hospital and later we learn of his passing.

Perhaps, the most chilling moment, for some, comes when Vice president Cheney is named President. There's a scene of him delivering an eulogy, another clever use of computer generated imagery and voice doctoring."

The film will be broadcast in the UK on channel 4 in October and is currently premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Passion of the Christ distributor, Newmarket Films, has just bought the U.S. distribution rights and plans on releasing the film widely in the next few months.

The second (bottom) video is a segment from CNN discussing the controversy the film has sparked.

In fact, as reported by TMZ the film's director has received death threats:

"The people behind the film have been both highly praised and highly bashed for their decision to make the movie. In fact, director Gabriel Range and partner Simon Finch had to be guarded by a private security team at this week's Toronto International Film Festival after several threats were made on their lives."

For more information on this film, check out our previous post: Bush assassination imagined...

David DeGraw is AlterNet's video blogger.