PRODUCED & DIRECTED
BY KOJI MASUTANI

“With its fascinating central question and well-chosen, nostalgic footage of John F. Kennedy in his prime, this well-played documentary manages to escape the fate of other dry historical overviews. Filmmaker Koji Masutani wisely avoids any comparisons to the current administration; they’ll rise unbidden from your psyche nonetheless.”
— Sara Cardace, New York magazine

“Elegantly constructed. The question: can an individual leader take a nation to, or keep it from, war? The conclusion: individual temperament matters, and John F. Kennedy’s example proves it… VIRTUAL JFK ponders the mystery of the Kennedy personality mainly as manifested during his televised press conferences – radiating star power, the coolest man in the room disarms adoring tweedy reporters with his dry martini wit… Masutani’s no-frills, largely black-and-white production is as evocative of early-‘60s masculine styles as any episode of Mad Men.”
– J. Hoberman, Village Voice

"A prime example of the power of the documentary to expose truths and to enhance legends at one and the same time."
– Peter Howell, Toronto Star

“An extended glimpse into a bygone era of statesmanship. In Masutani’s selection of clips, watching Kennedy field astute questions and scathing critiques with thoughtfulness and wit proves extremely illuminating; his weighing of complex factors in an international situation and consciousness of how much rides on his decisions strikes a now unfamiliar note.”
– Ronnie Scheib, Variety

SCOTTISH HISTORIAN NIALL FERGUSON CALLS IT VIRTUAL HISTORY: the great what if’s, the plausibility of counterfactuals. 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 threatens to turn hot. The 800-pound gorilla in the room is, of course, George W. Bush and his war in Iraq.

• Official film website
• Listen to our latest podcast:
  Q & A with director KOJI MASUTANI, producer/historian JAMES G. BLIGHT and JFK advisor/speechwriter THEODORE SORENSEN
  (Recorded September 17, 2008) 
• Click here to read about VIRTUAL JFK on The Huffington Post.

USA • 2008 • 80 MINS • Filmsource Information

Available at Amazon:

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