Based on a Story explores the widely-publicized encounter between Jewish Cantor, Michael Weisser, his wife Julie, and Nebraska’s former Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon, Larry Trapp.  After months of harassment from Trapp by mail, phone and cable TV, Julie and Michael Weisser befriended Trapp, who then renounced the Klan, moved into the Weisser family’s home and converted to Judaism.  While Trapp lived with the Weissers, the bond between Julie and Larry grew, becoming the focus of family life.  Trapp, who was a double amputee and blind from childhood diabetes, died in the Weissers’ home six months after he moved in. 

The Weisser/Trapp story, which was sold by the Weissers to the Disney Corporation, is presented as an intimate tale of family and childhood that evolves into a media event, built around fear and the shifting terrain of public and private life.  The film examines contradictory narratives of family, friends, congregation members, and the media to explore the wide range of responses this story evoked.

This film interweaves interview footage with evocative visual imagery and a voice-over narrative.  Imagery of the Nebraska plains is layered with artifacts from Trapp’s life, media footage from Trapp’s Klan activities through to his funeral, and intimate moments of the Weisser’s family home.  The visual construction of the film concludes with the narrator appearing on camera, suggesting that the film’s narrative shares the constructive nature of the interview footage.
 
Based on a Story was completed during an artist residency at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) designed to give artists and scientists working with new technologies the opportunity for collaboration.