Hundreds of thousands of history buffs and conspiracy theorists flock to Dealey Plaza each year to scrutinize the site of the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy from every conceivable angle.
Victor Agulhon hopes JFK Memento, the latest project from his French virtual-reality studio Targo, will enable viewers worldwide to share that experience — and be transported back 60 years in the process.
The immersive six-part documentary, which lasts about 40 minutes, is available to the public for the first time this week via an app on Meta Quest VR headsets, with wider distribution coming soon.
“We knew we could bring something new to these events through virtual reality,” Agulhon said while premiering a work in progress during the SXSW Film & TV Festival in Austin. “We could bring a clearer understanding.”
The project weaves interviews with surviving witnesses including former Dallas police detective Elmer Boyd and amateur photographer Mary Ann Moorman into a more conventional documentary structure. But the key lies in the visual replication of theories about the shooting and its aftermath through authentic reconstructions of time and place using laser scans, 3D techniques, artificial intelligence, projected remastered footage, and other technological tools.
“When you experience it, you really have the sense of being there and reliving these moments. It’s amazing to offer viewers a new perspective on the Kennedy assassination,” said documentary director Chloe Rochereuil. “We had access to a lot of high-quality materials. The technology really gives new life to those archives.”
Rochereuil and her team spent the past five years making the project, which included extensive research in conjunction with the Sixth Floor Museum. Not only did they develop a positive working relationship, she said, but Targo hopes to finalize a distribution agreement soon to showcase the project for museum visitors.
One chilling sequence in the first chapter puts viewers in Lee Harvey Oswald’s alleged sixth-floor perch in the Texas School Book Depository Building on Nov. 22, 1963. However, the goal is to educate rather than exploit or sensationalize, according to Agulhon. “What we’re doing with this documentary is creating a snapshot of history,” he said.
Agulhon said JFK Memento is the most ambitious project yet for Targo, a Paris studio whose previous works include “Rebuilding Notre Dame,” a VR glimpse inside the Cathedral of Notre Dame both before and after its near destruction during a 2019 fire.
Although they are from France, Agulhon and Rochereuil both have backgrounds in political science and were well-versed in the significance of the assassination and its ongoing legacy, which drew them to a project targeting the 60th anniversary.
“It’s important to have a global resonance to it, because it’s a defining moment in world history,” he said. “The sensation we’re giving you has never been done before.”
Rochereuil said visual and historical accuracy remained at the forefront, aiming to provide a fresh glimpse into history in a way that technology has only recently permitted.
“The idea is to make sure people understand the events and put more context to it. It puts a new spotlight on the way we look at the assassination,” Rochereuil said. “For a younger generation, it’s a new way to experience history in an immersive and accurate way.”
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