Death of a President, the controversial pseudo-documentary in which George W Bush is assassinated in October 2007, is certain to be a sell-out when it has its European premiere as the opening presentation of the 51st Cork Film festival on Sunday night, with director Gabriel Range and producers Ed Guiney and Simon Finch in attendance.
However, viewers with cable TV access to the More4 channel can catch the movie at 9pm on Monday night. "I'm sure there will be people who will be upset by it," says More4 head Peter Dale. "But when you see it, it's not sensationalist or exploitative. It's a very powerful and thought-provoking drama."
More4 expects further controversy later this month when it broadcasts another provocative comedy-drama set in the near future: The Trial of Tony Blair, in which the prime minister has left Downing Street and is put on trial for Iraq war crimes. Robert Lindsay will reprise the role of the prime minister which he played last year in More4's David Blunkett drama, A Very Social Secretary, with Phoebe Nicholls as Cherie Blair and Peter Mullan as Gordon Brown.
We see a trend emerging
New York sex "salons" provide the setting for much of John Cameron Mitchell's cheerfully uninhibited Shortbus, screening at the Cork festival tomorrow week, and for a psychological thriller which starts shooting in Manhattan next Friday. The Tourist, which was dropped by 20th Century Fox because of its reportedly racy storyline, will be made as an independent production by first-time director Marcel Langenegger. Ewan McGregor plays a financial consultant and Hugh Jackman is a lawyer who introduces him to the city's underground sex clubs.
Director Hampton at IFI
The next film-related event in the Arts Council's Critical Voices series will feature playwright, screenwriter and director Christopher Hampton. He will participate in a public interview at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin on October 25th, following a screening of Carrington, the 1995 film he directed with Emma Thompson as painter Dora Carrington and Jonathan Pryce as author Lytton Strachey.
Hampton's screenplays include Dangerous Liaisons, Total Eclipse, Mary Reilly and the Graham Greene adaptations The Honorary Consul and The Quiet American. Admission to the event is free; tickets must be reserved by calling the IFI on 01-6795744 or emailing hampton@irishfilm.ie
Gay fireman & superkillers
Richard Chamberlain will join the cast of the comedy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, in which Adam Sandler and Kevin James play straight firefighters posing as a gay couple to receive domestic partner benefits. Chamberlain has been filming in Co Cork on Mark Mahon's drama, Strength and Honor, with Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones and Patrick Bergin.
In other casting news, Gael García Bernal has been offered the role of the villain, described as a "superkiller" in The Bourne Ultimatum, the third movie in the series based on the Robert Ludlum books with Matt Damon as agent Jason Bourne. Series regulars Joan Allen and Julia Stiles return for the new film, which will be directed by Paul Greengrass, who made The Bourne Supremacy.
Howard in Pride biopic
The Hustle & Flow team of actor Terrence Howard and director Craig Brewer will reunite for a biopic of country singer Charley Pride, who scored three dozen number ones on the US country charts and struggled with the knowledge that many of his fans were white and racist. Howard, who will sing and play guitar in the film, has worked with three Irish directors in the past two years: Jim Sheridan (Get Rich or Die Tryin'), Kirsten Sheridan (August Rush) and Neil Jordan (The Brave One).
Suburban moves
Following last weekend's successful film event in Ranelagh Arts Festival, a season of film appreciation classes begins in the Dublin village next Wednesday and runs for eight weeks. Daniel Fitzpatrick will discuss a different feature film each week, among them such gems as Gilda, Yi Yi, Paris, Texas and Distant Voices, Still Lives. The venue is Cullenswood House in Ranelagh. For more information, call 086-8934196.
Clooney's celeb strategy
George Clooney has devised a scheme to confuse the paparazzi. "Here is my theory for debunking photographs in magazines," he says. "You know, the paparazzi photographs. I want to spend every single night for three months going out with a different famous actress. You know, Halle Berry one night, Salma Hayek the next, and then walk on the beach holding hands with Leonardo DiCaprio."
