TLC REVISITS A REMARKABLE TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE TELEVISION EVENT "LETTERS TO JACKIE: REMEMBERING PRESIDENT KENNEDY"
TLC that it has commissioned the two-hour film LETTERS TO JACKIE: REMEMBERING PRESIDENT KENNEDY, executive produced by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Bill Couturié's The Couturie Company in partnership with Amblin Television. The film revisits the months following the assassination of President Kennedy, when the First Lady became the heart of the nation, leading its citizens - and her own children - through a dark and difficult time. In response, thousands from the country and the world reached out in support, and LETTERS TO JACKIE puts a spotlight on the strength and unity that emerged during one of the most iconic times in American history.
TLC will debut the film as an exclusive television event on November 17 at 9/8c, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the President's assassination.
In the two months following that fateful day in November 1963, the White House received more than 800,000 condolence letters to Jacqueline Kennedy and her family, all expressions of sorrow, strength, and unity. LETTERS TO JACKIE reveals how a single event transcended generations, regions, races, political leanings, and religions and unified a nation in support of a family in grief.
Twenty A-List celebrities have lent their recognizable voices to give life to these powerful letters from everyday Americans, including a polio-stricken 13 year-old who offers words of strength for the First Lady, a Peace Corps volunteer who mourns the loss while stationed in Ethiopia, and an African American woman who expressed her pride and gratitude for President Kennedy's work in the civil rights movement.
The participating talent includes:
Bérénice Bejo
Demián Bichir
Jessica Chastain
Chris Cooper
Viola Davis
Zooey Deschanel
Kirsten Dunst
Anne Hathaway
Allison Janney
John Krasinski
Melissa Leo
Laura Linney
Frances McDormand
Chloë Grace Moretz
Mark Ruffalo
Octavia Spencer
Hailee Steinfeld
Channing Tatum
Betty White
Michelle Williams
"I'll never forget where I was when JFK was killed. No one will. It cast a dark shadow over America. The world, really. Afterwards, 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. Luckily, Amblin TV and TLC agreed," said filmmaker Bill Couturié.
LETTERS TO JACKIE: REMEMBERING PRESIDENT KENNEDY is a co-production of 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.
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