Thursday, October 11, 2007

Robert Stone chats about 'Oswald's Ghost'



Rhinecliff resident Robert Stone stopped by The Colony Cafe this afternoon and I grabbed him for a few quick questions about his documentary.

Stone will introduce "Oswald's Ghost" at the Friday screening at 7 p.m. at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck and the Sunday presentation at 1:30 p.m. at Bearsville Theater.

Me: From what perspective did you begin this film?

Stone: I'm looking at the phenomenon of our obsession with the Kennedy assassination. It's not a who-done-it. It's a what has the who-done-it done to us?

Me: Who are some of the people you interviewed?

Stone: One of the most prominent people in the film is Norman Mailer. I also interviewed Dan Rather, Gary Hart and Tom Hayden. I wanted to interview people who had a first-hand experience with it and were profoundly influenced by it.

Me: Why should people see "Oswald's Ghost?"

Stone: The movie presents new archival material we were able to find. Before this movie there were two kinds of movies about the Kennedy assassination:
1.) Conspiracy theory movies that tried to put forth a specific conspiracy
2.) Debunking movies that the networks make every five years with the same material.
We use the original Dallas police tapes. They have never been used in a movie before, ever.

Me: The Woodstock Film Festival screenings are the U.S. premieres of "Oswald's Ghost." Has anyone seen it yet?

Stone: We had a preview screening in Los Angeles in June at the Museum of Television and Radio, now called The Paley Center for Media. People were so impassioned about it. They were waving pieces of paper to support whatever conspiracy. It was like a lightning bolt in the audience.

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