The Robert Drew Kennedy Films Collection

Essential viewing experience." - The Washington Post

Widely considered a breakthrough in documentary filmmaking, the three films in this collectible 2-disc set offer the most intimate and candid look at Kennedy ever put on film. Drew’s first profile of Kennedy, PRIMARY, offers a rare early portrait of Kennedy on his path to the White House, and also marks the birth of Cinema Verité, when the sync sound camera was able to move freely with characters throughout a breaking story. CRISIS: BEHIND A PRESIDENTIAL COMMITMENT captures President Kennedy in the White House, as he and his brother Robert engage in a dramatic showdown over desegregation with then Alabama Governor George Wallace. Lastly, FACES OF NOVEMBER presents a view of the public’s reaction to President Kennedy’s funeral on November 22, 1963.

These three seminal films provide a captivating history of JFK — from his years as a young senator to his days in the White House to fallen hero.

THIS EXCLUSIVE DVD COLLECTION INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING GROUND-BREAKING FILMS:

PRIMARY (1960) – Selected as an historic American film for inclusion in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, PRIMARY grants audiences unprecedented access into the world of a young politician and his glamorous wife as they campaign across the Wisconsin landscape and navigate their way through throngs of ardent supporters. The film captures Kennedy’s rock-star presence and Jackie’s quiet radiance as they confront rival front-runner Hubert Humphrey in the state’s pivotal primary election.

CRISIS: BEHIND A PRESIDENTIAL COMMITMENT (1963) – A milestone in film journalism, this fly-on-the-wall chronicle of Kennedy in the White House follows Gov. George Wallace’s attempts to stonewall integration at the University of Alabama and thwart JFK’s Justice Department, which was headed by Robert Kennedy. The result is a deeply intimate study of JFK and RFK, capturing the powerful brothers as they forge a great victory for civil rights and racial equality.

FACES OF NOVEMBER (1964) – The first film to win two first prizes at the Venice Film Festival, Drew’s final film on Kennedy offers a somber view of reactions to President Kennedy’s funeral as reflected in the faces of participants and onlookers.

DVD Features

PRIMARY: Running Commentary from Robert Drew and Photographer Richard Leacock; The Originators: Robert Drew, Richard Leacock, D A Pennebaker, and Albert Maysles Recall Their PRIMARY Breakthrough; 30/15: 30 Years of Robert Drew Filmmaking; CRISIS: Running Commentary from Robert Drew and Photographer Richard Leacock

"Essential viewing experience."
- The Washington Post

Primary ©1960, 1999 Drew Associates, Inc. Crisis: Behind A Presidential Commitment ©1963, 1991 Drew Associates, Inc. Art and Design ©2008 New Video Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Marketed and distributed in the U.S. by New Video.

Posted in Docurama, History/Politics, Profiles/Biographies | Tagged 1960s, activism, cinema verite, election, genre: documentary, jfk, politics, presidency, rfk