Ken Burns’ slate is full through 2029, with upcoming documentaries on LBJ and the Great Society, the buffalo, the American Revolution, Reconstruction and Leonardo da Vinci (his first project to unfold entirely outside the continental United States).
“I’m very anxious,” Burns admits. “I want my country to survive. I want to look back on all of this and go, ‘Wow, that was tough, but we made it through’ — just the way my parents and my grandparents talked to me about the Depression. I want to have this in our rearview mirror, but I don’t think that will happen for a while.”
“It’s going to take a concerted effort on the part of a lot of well-intentioned people not to stand by and just say, ‘I don’t agree with what’s going on,’ but to somehow get involved in the political process and shore up these institutions,” Burns says. Burns has faced a similar moral crisis. He’s spoken out about the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and used a speech at Yale in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq to note that America was better at starting wars than ending them, but he has been very judicious in commenting on the issues of the day. That changed with Donald Trump’s ascension.
In Burns’ editing studio in his hometown of Walpole, N.H., there’s a neon sign that reads, “It’s complicated.” He certainly applied that dictum when it came to Franklin, an intellectual force and a legendary diplomat who could be cold with his wife and loved ones. And though Franklin turned against slavery, becoming president of Philadelphia’s abolition society, he was late to the movement: Earlier, the Franklin household included at least six enslaved individuals, a moral stain on his legacy.
On any given week Burns is poring over the final edit of one of his next projects while reading scripts or watching rough cuts of films that won’t air for months or even years. On some projects, such as the Franklin film, he conducts most interviews; on others, such as the documentaries he makes with Novick, he cedes that responsibility to his co-directors.
“If Ken was only interested in a fleeting media experience, and this is not to be disparaging, then he might be more comfortable on a commercial network,” says Paula Kerger, PBS CEO. “He’s more interested in what we do, which is to convene conversations in communities.” “It gets parodied, it gets mocked and that’s great,” says Burns. “It just means that it’s out there, and people trust it.”
Burns takes aim during production of his 2009 PBS documentary “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”“To his credit David Koch loved the Vietnam film and thought it was great even though it documented our many failings,” says Burns. “Being able to have these discussions about how do we support a range of voices has been a good thing to engage with, and we look forward to doing more and more work to improve things,” says Kerger.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
Trump Family Ally Ken Kurson Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanors in New York Cybercrime CaseFormer New York Observer editor Ken Kurson pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors, resolving a yearslong legal saga that included being pardoned by former President Donald Trump
Weiterlesen »
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues Facebook alleging social media giant violated state lawAttorney General Ken Paxton asserts that the company, which recently rebranded itself as Meta, violated state law when it captured users' facial features without proper consent. Paxton was also questioned if his choice of venue for the announcement had anything to do with one of his primary opponents.
Weiterlesen »
Fire burns unit at Renton veterans housing complexMedics took one person to the hospital after a fire at Compass Veteran's Center in Renton.
Weiterlesen »
'A line of fire': Argentina blaze burns 500,000 hectares amid droughtA devastating wildfire in the northern Argentine province of Corrientes has spread to cover more than 500,000 hectares, 6% of the region's total area, underscoring the impact of dry weather due to the Niña weather pattern in the South American nation.
Weiterlesen »
Sarah Palin’s Anti-New York Times Crusade Crashes and Burns“My job is to apply the law,” U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff said, noting that he anticipates an appeal in the case. “The law sets a very high standard for actual malice and in this case the Court finds that standard has not been met.”
Weiterlesen »
Massive fire burns old school building in SeaTacA fire is burning out of control at a former elementary school in SeaTac.
Weiterlesen »