Sep 02, 2010 | WDC: 80.6 °F
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Ken Burns
For more than 20 years, WETA has partnered with Ken Burns to bring his landmark documentaries to the nation via public television.
Our latest film collaboration produced THE WAR, a major television event and a breathtaking achievement on the scale of Ken Burns's previous groundbreaking historical films. We at WETA are delighted to have played an important role in bringing this film, co-directed and co-produced by Lynn Novick, to a viewing audience nationwide. Lynn Novick and Ken Burns are an astonishingly creative, successful team, and it is WETA's great pleasure to work with them and their colleagues at Florentine Films.
A video message from
Ken Burns
Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns talks about his more than 20-year partnership with WETA.
Watch video clip »
Ken Burns at Washington Nationals Game
Ken Burns was pleased to be at the Washington Nationals game on June 8, 2010, to promote his upcoming film, The Tenth Inning. At the game, Ken threw out the first pitch and mingled with WETA members and guests.
In production
WETA is even now working on the next film project with Ken Burns and projects are being planned up to a decade beyond. It is with pride that together we serve the American public with remarkable films of tremendous educational value that illuminate the nation's history. WETA's collaboration with Ken Burns continues with the following films currently in production.
The Tenth Inning
Coming in September 2010
A follow-up to their landmark series Baseball, this documentary from Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick continues the story of "America's Pastime," chronicling events from the 1990s to the present day.
About this WETA production »Go to program website »
Prohibition
Coming in 2011
The years of Prohibition — perhaps America's greatest social experiment — are examined in this documentary from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.
About this WETA production »Previous programs
The following programs previously aired on public television stations nationwide.
The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009)
This six-part Ken Burns documentary series chronicles the human story behind the creation of America's national parks.
THE WAR (2007)
This landmark film is the story of the Second World War through the personal accounts of a handful of men and women from four American towns. The war touched the lives of every family on every street in in every town in America and demonstrated that in extraordinary times, there are no ordinary lives.
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2005)
Jack Johnson – the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World, whose dominance over his white opponents spurred furious debates and race riots in the early 20th century – is portrayed in this powerful film. It shows the gritty details of Johnson's life through archival footage, still photographs, and the commentary of boxing experts and James Earl Jones, the actor who portrayed Johnson in the Broadway play and film based on Johnson's life, The Great White Hope.
Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip (2003)
In the spring of 1903, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the new-fangled "horseless carriage." This was America's first transcontinental road trip, and like all road trips that would follow it included the usual mix of breakdowns, inedible meals and uncomfortable beds, getting lost and enduring bad weather – and having a truly unforgettable experience crossing the nation's vast landscape.
Ken Burns American Stories (2003)
Ken Burns has been making documentary films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. The Ken Burns American Stories collection of eight films includes Brooklyn Bridge, The Congress, Huey Long, The Shakers, The Statue of Liberty and Thomas Hart Benton.
Mark Twain (2002)
This four-hour portrait of one of America's funniest and most popular writers depicts the life and writings of Mark Twain. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns notes that the film is actually two stories in one, "a dual biography" divided between Samuel Clemens, the author's birth name, and Mark Twain, the name he wrote by. At the same time that Twain was "the funniest man on earth," Sam Clemens had "more tragedy happen to him than any human being could possibly bear," Burns said in a 2002 interview.
JAZZ (2001)
Jazz has been called the purest expression of American democracy; a music built on individualism and compromise, independence and cooperation. This ten-part film explores in detail the culture, politics and dreams that gave birth to jazz music, and follows this most American of art forms from its origins in blues and ragtime through swing, bebop and fusion.
Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (1999)
Winner of the prestigious Peabody Award, this dual biography tells the story of the two women who almost single-handedly created and spearheaded the women's rights movement in America. The film is the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, whose strong willpower and sheer determination still ripples through contemporary society. Their shared vision of women’s suffrage was not realized until after their deaths.
Frank Lloyd Wright (1998)
For more than 70 years, Frank Lloyd Wright showed his countrymen new ways to build their homes and see the world around them. He created some of the most monumental, and some of the most intimate spaces in America. He designed everything: banks and resorts, office buildings and churches, a filling station and a synagogue, a beer garden and an art museum. This film tells the riveting story of America's foremost architectural genius.
Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (1997)
Sent by President Thomas Jefferson to find the fabled Northwest Passage, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the most courageous and important expedition in U.S. history. This film chronicles the story, not just of the two captains, but of the young army men, French-Canadian boatmen, Clark's African-American slave, and Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman who was a key, lifesaving member of the group. The film is a journey across a breathtaking landscape that explores both the history – and the promise – of America.
Thomas Jefferson (1997)
This film explores the contradictions in the man who was revered as the author of the most sacred document in American history and condemned as a lifelong owner of slaves. Thomas Jefferson became vice president in 1797 and the third U.S. president in 1801. His Louisiana Purchase doubled the nation's size, but he faced controversy and scandal, finally retiring to his beloved Monticello in 1809. His last years were spent founding the University of Virginia.
The West (1996)
This film is the story of one of the great crossroads in human history, a place where, tragically and heroically, the best of us met the worst of us and nothing was left unchanged. The film captures the grandeur of the West and the energy of its people, and probes the conflicting visions and competing values that made an American nation on this vast land. It offers stories of the Native American experience, stories of the Spanish West, pioneer stories from the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Exodus, war stories from San Jacinto and Lawrence, Kansas, and stories of miners and missionaries, ranchers and railroaders, educators and industrialists.
Baseball (1994)
The story of baseball is the story of America. This film covers the history of baseball from the 1840's to the present. Through the extensive use of archival photographs and newsreel footage, baseball is shown as a mirror of our larger society. The portrayal of the game's greatest heroes revives the hopes and dreams that have shaped our national character. The retelling of the game's greatest moments rekindles the joys and sorrows that have made baseball a cherished part of our heritage.
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1992)
For 50 years, radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first "mass medium." In this film, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways.
The Civil War (1990)
Ken Burns' epic documentary brings to life America's most destructive – and defining – conflict. The Civil War is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one.
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Phone: 703-998-2072
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