Great Hall – Abraham Zapruder didn’t know when he ran home to grab his video camera on November 22, 1963 that this single spontaneous decision would change his family’s life for generations to come. Originally intended as a home movie of President Kennedy’s motorcade, Zapruder’s film of the JFK assassination is now world famous and is the most famous example of citizen journalism.

In this talk, Abraham’s granddaughter, Alexandra Zapruder, tells the complete story for the first time. With the help of family records, memories, and documents, Zapruder tracks the film’s torturous journey through history. Part biography, part family history, and part historical narrative, Zapruder demonstrates how one man’s unwitting moment in the spotlight shifted the way politics, culture, and media intersect, bringing about the larger social questions that define our age.