Pepperdine University will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Friday with a special screening of “John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums.”
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Pepperdine professor Bruce Herschensohn, the writer and director of the film.
“John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums” is the only authorized film about Kennedy. It explores the 1,000 days of Kennedy’s presidency, from his inauguration in 1961 to his assassination in 1963.
Herschensohn made the film in 1964 with the United States Information Agency for overseas release. The film could not be screened in the U.S. to prevent the U.S.I.A. from distributing the film as propaganda, he said in an interview with C-SPAN. It took a special act of Congress to distribute the film nationally in 1966.
The screening will begin at 2 p.m. in Pepperdine’s Payson Library. The audience Q&A with Herschensohn will follow the film. The screening is free to the public.