"Parkland" is the name of the hospital where Kennedy was taken after he was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald.
The movie focuses on ordinary people suddenly involved in an extraordinary situation.
Paul Giamatti plays Abraham Zapruder, the man who unwittingly filmed the assassination.
"I think he felt a lot of guilt, like he was complicit in it in some way, like he was almost responsible for it because now everybody was going to have this in their head, this image, which everybody does," Giamatti said.
"Parkland" director Peter Landesman said Zapruder's family had remained secretive and quiet from the very beginning, that is, until now.
"They literally have never cooperated with anybody or anything until this film," Landesman said.
"Parkland" also focuses on the family of Oswald. James Badge dale plays his brother, Robert. Jacki Weaver plays his very supportive mother.
"I did have a lot of source material, including videotapes of the way she presented herself and the way she spoke and looked and her general demeanor," Weaver said.
Dale said he and the cast wants the audience to have an emotional reaction to the film.
"Parkland" runs about an hour and a half - for a reason.
"I feel like human beings have a threshold for taking in intense stories, and it's about 90 minutes," Landesman said.
"Parkland" opens Friday. The film is rated PG-13.
