(DALLAS) The AT&T Performing Arts Center announced it will present a special public screening of acclaimed new documentary Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House on Thursday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m. Admission to the 90-minute film will be free. Tickets will be available at www.attpac.org/jackie.
The documentary, by Academy Award-winning director Bill Couturié, is based on the outpouring of sympathy and grief shared in letters sent to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy after President Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963, a Friday. By Monday, 45,000 letters had arrived at the White House. Within seven weeks, Mrs. Kennedy had received 800,000 from across the world. Letters to Jackie features 20 of the most remarkable letters, read by a stellar cast including Academy Award winning actress Anne Hathaway, who reads the letter of Janis Crabtree of Dallas. The real Mrs. Crabtree is scheduled to attend the screening. The film also includes archival footage, some never seen before, from the Sixth Floor Museum and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The screening will be immediately followed by a Q&A with Mr. Couturié.
“This film, using these heartfelt letters, shares both the legacy of President Kennedy and the collective grief of a nation in a powerful way,” said Doug Curtis, President and CEO of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. “It is a thoughtful and respectful way for us to mark this anniversary, and we are pleased to provide this presentation free of charge for the community.”
The participating talent also includes Academy Award winners Octavia Spencer, Frances McDormand, Chris Cooper and Melissa Leo; Tony Award winner Viola Davis; Golden Globe winners Michelle Williams and Jessica Chastain; and Emmy Award winners Betty White, Laura Linney and Allison Janney. The film also features the voices of young Hollywood celebrities like Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, John Krasinski and Zooey Deschanel.
This event is part of Sunset Screenings, a series of free outdoor viewings of new and classic films, presented by the Center and Dallas Film Society. The film will be shown in the Winspear Opera House for this event. Sixth Floor Museum, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, and The Dallas Morning News are also partners in this presentation.
“I’ll never forget where I was when JFK was killed. No one will,” said filmmaker Bill Couturié. “Afterward, the American people poured out their hearts to Jackie. The strength and wisdom of the nation, coming out of profound tragedy, rings clear in these letters. As soon as I read them, I knew I had to make a movie around them and the time they so eloquently evoke.”
Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy is a coproduction of TLC, Amblin Television and The Couturié Company. Executive Producers are Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey. Based on the book Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation by Ellen Fitzpatrick, the film is produced by Anne Sandkuhler and Bill Couturié, and written and directed by Bill Couturié.
