Retired National Gallery of Art executive-turned-filmmaker, Joseph J. Krakora premiered A Chance Encounter, the first of 20 short films about the history of Georgetown’s Oak Hill Cemetery on Sunday, October 8, 2017.
Not yet released and, in fact, voice-over by the great-great-grandson of Jefferson Davis is still in progress. But for the the VIPs invited to preview the 18-minute film, it was a moving introduction to a few of the 20,000 souls buried on a hill overlooking Rock Creek Park.
“The names here tell the story of the history of the city and of the nation,” explained Krakora, as he outlined plans for “The Oak Hill Story Project,” to turn it into a TV series and a documentary book.
In A Chance Encounter, an imaginary conversation between Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis walking through the cemetery centers on slavery and saving the Union while they each mourn the death of their young sons Willie and Samuel. Many Civil War soldiers and their families are buried at Oak Hill. Read more
