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Never before seen on film, two of history’s most extraordinary leaders—one born of revolution, the other of privilege—give a gripping first-hand account of how they led the world back from the brink of nuclear Armageddon by finding the courage to change.
Story Synopsis:
Written, directed and edited by Emmy winning and five-time Oscar nominated Michael Chandler, Jack and Nikita – Kennedy and Khrushchev (OTB) uncovers the story of two unlikely characters divided by class, age, and ideology – one the son of a miner, the other the son of a millionaire – who led their countries out of the straitjacket of Cold War thinking towards a new way of living in peace. Yet at every turn they undermined their own sincere efforts through self-made crises, miscalculations, and outright blunders, avoiding nuclear war only after taking every step to unleash it.
Both Kennedy & Khrushchev were not afraid of using deception, flattery and humor in a diplomatic dance where each tried to gain the upper hand. To cut through the institutional thicket separating them, they relied on secret back channels and a correspondence they kept hidden from others. It was a relationship complete with lies, betrayal and reconciliation, with all the intrigue of a spy novel.
But until now, that human aspect has languished in dusty archives, leaving questions that only the men themselves could answer: Why did their only face-to-face meeting go so tragically wrong? How did their relationship serve them during the tensest moments of crisis? What were they really saying behind each other’s backs?
Using AI generated voices, together with animation and secret White House tapes, this political thriller captures the missing intimacy of those crisis years with an immediacy and accuracy that second-hand accounts cannot match. There is no substitute for witnessing the tragi-comic moment when Khrushchev interrupts his war-planning against Kennedy to decide on the proper gifts to send him. Or for watching a stunned Kennedy sit in silence as a four-star U.S. General hurls personal insults at his Commander-in-Chief. The audience is an eyewitness to history as it happens, sitting at the elbow of the people who made it. We also use this history as a lens through which to see our present time, where the dormant seeds of Khrushchev’s nuclear brinksmanship and insecurities sprout anew in Putin’s Russia.
Despite their differences, Kennedy and Khrushchev did have one thing in common: an abhorrence of war. Both had seen the horrors of the battlefield, both had lost loved ones to combat. Nikita lost his son, Leonid, and Kennedy lost his brother, Joe. Both feared the danger of war in the nuclear age. In the end, that shared bond would prove to be enough.
© 2023 – Agora Productions – a 501(c)3 nonprofit public benefit organization. All Rights Reserved
Archivist
Helene Van Rossum is the Archivist for “Jack and Nikita.” Van Rossum studied modern history at the University of Amsterdam and archival studies at University College, London, before moving to the United States. Van Rossum has worked as an archivist for most of her professional career, including at the Mudd Library, Princeton University, and Special Collections and University Archives at Rutgers University. She has a deep passion for archival history, the patience to sift through vast quantities of media, and a keen eye to identify what is essential and what is not.
Van Rossum has written several picture books and recently collaborated on a trivia book about Princeton University with the Princeton University Archivist. In addition, she provides instructions and patterns to act out stories from the past with shadow or silhouette puppets on her website, Past Times History
Executive Producer
Darin Nellis is the co-founder of Agora Productions and Stone Tiger Productions. Nellis produced the critically acclaimed documentary films, JFK: A President Betrayed (Amazon Prime) and The Power of the Powerless (TPOP). Oliver Stone said JFK was “brilliant” and the Hollywood Reporter called it “an excellent example of cinematic scholarship.” Nellis headed up the distribution of TPOP, which aired on ten TV networks in Europe and Asia and was distributed by human rights organizations on three continents. He also spearheaded the development and distribution of an educational curricula for Powerless, now being used by hundreds of universities across the globe. Currently, Nellis serves as the Executive Producer for “Calitopia,” a new surf adventure series and “Jack and Nikita – My Partner My Adversary,” an exciting new genre breaking political thriller.
In addition to his work in film production, Nellis has served as an executive for multiple high-tech companies and served the Peace Corps in Mauritania, West Africa, where he nurtured an appreciation for globalism. Fluent in French, and conversationally fluent in Spanish and Arabic, he received his MBA in International Business from Loyola Marymount University.
Producer
Sheila Canavan is a producer for Jack and Nikita. Canavan produced and directed the Showtime Broadcast Premier “Compared to What? The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank” and the Independent Lens documentary “Knee Deep,” winner of the prestigious Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary Film. Her film credits include “Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter’s Journey” and “Yosemite, The Fate of Heaven.”
Sheila is also a nationally known attorney in consumer law and predatory lending fraud, specializing in financial abuse of the elderly. She served a three-year term on the Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council, which advises the Board on its responsibilities under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.
Assistant Producer
Max Gittelson works an Assistant Producer at Agora Productions. Max worked as a sound recordist and PA on location in Russia, Germany, Austria, Washington DC, and Massachusetts. Max has also worked in an administrative capacity at Stone Tiger Productions and in sales at Morgan Fabrics.
Director/Writer/Editor
Michael Chandler is the writer, director, and editor of Agora’s new film, Jack and Nikita. He is an Emmy award winning, and Oscar nominated film editor, writer, producer and director of feature and documentary films. His film credits include five Oscar nominations for Amadeus, Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter’s Journey, The Squires of San Quentin, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers and Freedom on My Mind (Sundance Grand Jury Prize); an Emmy Award for Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven; two American Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Awards for Amadeus and the ABC special Can’t It Be Anyone Else? (Christopher Humanitarian Award). His most recent works include Knee Deep (Maysles Brothers Award) and Forgotten Fires (Golden Spire Award) of which Bill Moyers said, “If we wanted a real dialog about race in America, we’d start with this film.”