Event

Virtual JFK

(Koji Masutani, USA, 2008, DigiBeta, 82 min)

Scottish historian Niall Ferguson calls it virtual history: the study of the great "What ifs?," the plausibility of counterfactuals. In Virtual JFK, first-time filmmaker Koji Masutani and Brown University professor James G. Blight ask, Can a president make a decisive difference in matters of war and peace? Or are the forces that drive a nation into war a lot more impersonal, out of the control of any single human being, even a president? In 1963 the US had 16,000 military advisors in Vietnam. In 1968, Johnson had 500,000 troops there. Virtual JFK rethinks the legendary 1,000-day presidency, selecting from more than 250 hours of archival material some of the brightest, funniest moments from the Kennedy press conferences as well as some of the scariest ones, when the Cold War threatened to turn hot. The "800-pound gorilla" in the room is, of course, George W. Bush and his war in Iraq.

"Virtual JFK represents an extended glimpse into a bygone era of statesmanship." - Variety