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OLIVER STONE's JFK ASSASSINATION SCREENWRITERS


In 1991, the American public and the US political establishment were shocked and scandalized by the release of a Hollywood film: Oliver Stone's JFK. The director's technical wizardry brought a deadly serious historical drama to the big screen. Stone and his writing team were able to make a compelling story out of the president's assassination in Dallas by presenting a dramatized narrative centered around the investigation of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. Despite an unprecedented Establishment holy war waged against the film, JFK became a huge critical and commercial success. The public outcry from the film even led to the unanimous passage of a major piece of congressional legislation: The JFK Records Act. The law requires federal agencies to eventually release any and all records pertaining to the JFK assassination with only narrow and specific exceptions.


Three decades later---in 2020---Oliver Stone released a follow-up to JFK, this time as a documentary film. The film was released in two versions: the two-hour JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass and a four-hour cut, JFK: Destiny Betrayed. Both cuts were made drawing largely from materials declassified by the the JFK Records Act. The filmmakers present such a compelling case that it would take a flat-earth mentality for anyone to walk away from the film still believing in the Warren Commission's whitewash account of the assassination.


I myself briefly appeared in the four-hour cut of the film. Later, I began a podcast series on the assassination with help from the JFK Revisited co-creator/screenwriter,James DiEugenio. The first episode is posted in the media player above. It features a discussion with the screenwriters from both of Stone's JFK assassination films: Zach Sklar (JFK) and James DiEugenio (JFK Revisited). The episode also includes contributions from the great Abby Martin of The Empire Files.

Please check out: James DiEugenio's website: Kennedys and King


Special thanks to Dan Storper for helping this podcast series get off the ground!

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