Ten years later, will Americans want to watch a film reliving 9/11 through the lens of George W. Bush’s personal memories?
National Geographic Channel previewed part of its interview with George W. Bush for TV critics gathered in Los Angeles Thursday. The film premieres Sunday, Aug. 28.
“The 9/11 Interview” interweaves news footage from the day, a decade ago, with the extended, two-day interview with Bush. Executive producer and director Peter Schnall said he landed the interview thanks to his previous collaboration with the Administration on a documentary on Air Force One.
The film, which includes no narration, only Bush’s voice, may help amend the country’s memory of Bush in the elementary school classroom on that day, and on the run in a jet.
“My first reaction was anger: who the hell would do that to America?” Bush said. “And then I immediately focused on the children.”
He recalls that the contrast between the violence of the attack and the innocence of the children clarified what he needed to do.
“I didn’t want to rattle the kids. I wanted to project a sense of calm.”
Previously unreleased archival photographs from the impromptu command center at the school place Bush among Americans rather than “in a bubble,” he notes.
NatGeo plans a full week of 9/11 programming, with this interview as the centerpiece.
