US EditionIn ‘The American Revolution,’ Ken Burns’ Filmmakers Go Back to the Beginning
Ken Burns’ six-part PBS series features historians and actors to explore diverse participants and the war’s high human cost, highlighting lesser-known narratives of 1776.
- Filmmaker Ken Burns and co-directors Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt released a six-part series on PBS, airing nightly through Nov. 21, covering the American Revolution.
- After a decade-long process, Ken Burns, filmmaker, Sarah Botstein, co-director, and David Schmidt, co-director, aimed to surface lesser-known stories as the nation nears its 250th anniversary.
- Using maps, gunfire sound, and reenactments with voice actors including Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Laura Linney, Damian Lewis, and Edward Norton, the series dramatizes the Revolution.
- The documentary makes clear that freedoms varied widely, showing Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman's legal fight and highlighting that Black Americans, Native Americans and women were largely excluded.
- By stressing citizenship, the film frames citizenship and civic engagement as central lessons today, while historians argue democracy emerged as an evolving struggle over nearly 250 years.
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23 Articles
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: Connecting Students to Our Shared History
What you’ll do: Hear from all three filmmakers about their experiences creating this documentary Consider how the perspectives of a wide variety of individuals from the Revolutionary era can help students connect to our shared history, 250 years in the making Discover more about the Ken Burns in the Classroom: The American Revolution Collection on PBS LearningMedia at pbslearningmedia.org/americanrevolution What you’ll get:
The Sun (Lowell)
In ‘The American Revolution,’ Ken Burns’ filmmakers go back to the beginning
When the new Ken Burns documentary series “The American Revolution” premiered on PBS on Sunday, it will marked the end of a filmmaking journey that began almost a decade ago. “Ken always says these films take 10 years,” says Sarah Botstein, who co-directed the series with David Schmidt and Burns. “From the second he goes, ‘We’re going to make “The American Revolution”‘ to when it broadcasts is 10 years.” That’s two years longer than the actual l…
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