{"id":294694,"date":"2025-11-16T07:23:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T07:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/294694\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T07:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T07:23:12","slug":"why-documentary-filmmaker-ken-burns-says-he-wont-work-on-a-more-important-project-than-the-american-revolution-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/294694\/","title":{"rendered":"Why documentary filmmaker Ken Burns says he \u2018won\u2019t work on a more important project\u2019 than \u2018The American Revolution\u2019 \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

After 10 years of work, $30 million, and the use of 60 voice actors and 18,000 maps, the first of the six-episode \u201cThe American Revolution\u201d series premieres Sunday.<\/p>\n

Along with Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, the film is co-directed by Ken Burns, whose past documentaries<\/a> \u2014 \u201cCivil War \u201d(1990), \u201cBaseball\u201d (1994), \u201cLewis & Clark\u201d (1997), \u201cMark Twain\u201d (2001), \u201cThe National Parks\u201d (2009), \u201cVietnam\u201d (2017) \u2014 have made him one of the most celebrated chroniclers of all things American. <\/p>\n

Yet among all past and future projects, the renowned documentarian has said in the lead-up to this release, \u201cI won\u2019t work on a more important project.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

After talking to many about the project, producers say people are \u201cthirsty\u201d to understand history more deeply. Yet, in a day of short reels and low engagement, they also acknowledge it is a lot to commit 12 hours to absorbing details of America\u2019s founding story. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that,\u201d Schmidt tells the Deseret News. \u201cBut these people deserve it. These millions of people of the Revolutionary generation sacrificed so much; you can give them 12 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that this story \u201ccan\u2019t be reduced to the paragraph that I think a lot of people want to reduce everything to these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither cynical nor romanticized \"\"Fort Ticonderoga interpretive staff row a hand-built, reconstructed batteau on Lake Champlain while cinematographer Buddy Squires films from a chase boat for a scene from the PBS documentary \u201cThe American Revolution,\u201d produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. The film premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m. MST. | Vicky Lee, Public Broadcasting S <\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to look back on the past, either with \u201cunquestioned reverence,\u201d or with an attitude of, \u201cOh, look how much better we are than they were,\u201d Schmidt says.<\/p>\n

Both attitudes can distort the truth in different ways, Botstein adds. \u201cYou can be patriotic and prideful about the American experiment and not overdo it either way,\u201d Botstein says, pushing back on the forced choice between \u201cjust a marble statue or a terrible traitor. Neither is helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are complicated, and they have all sorts of different motivations,\u201d Schmidt says. \u201cI think it\u2019s worth at least understanding that they\u2019ve got other things going on in their head, (rather) than what you just immediately jump at thinking that they\u2019re thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe if you look at them with some generosity and some grace, you might look at yourself or your community or your country with a little generosity and grace,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Generosity as a part of seeing truthfully \"\"A scene from the PBS documentary \u201cThe American Revolution,\u201d produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. The film premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m. MST. | Design \u00a9 2025 Public Broadcasti <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not a cynical bunch, and we are not naively optimistic either,\u201d Botstein says, characterizing their documentary team\u2019s interest in \u201cforward motion and trying to make good on the promises that infused the history of the American Revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Botstein describes the directors of the film as \u201call deeply patriotic.\u201d They are also deeply committed to presenting the American story with \u201cas much empathy and context and understanding as we can infuse history with,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

For example, Botstein says, Thomas Jefferson \u201cwas an enormously enlightened human being who owned other people.\u201d <\/p>\n

However confusing that contrast can be, she suggested \u201cthat\u2019s the human question for all of us: \u2018how can you know something is wrong and still do it?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

Reflecting on historical characters, Burns adds<\/a> in a separate interview: \u201cIf you\u2019re looking for perfection, you\u2019re never going to find it. … If you want to find somebody most responsible for why you and I are talking here, it\u2019s George Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, a person does not have to avoid right and wrong in order to tell the story of Washington or Jefferson well, Botstein says. But he or she also must \u201chave empathy and kindness and generosity and context, or you can\u2019t get at the history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think cynicism and darkness get us very far,\u201d Burns says.<\/p>\n

All of our history\"\"Cinematographer Buddy Squires, director Sarah Botstein, and co-producer Megan Ruffe film on-location\u00a0 scene at Fraunces Tavern in New York City for the PBS documentary \u201cThe American Revolution,\u201d produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. The film premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m. MST. | Shyala Jayasinghe, Public Broadc <\/p>\n

With Thanksgiving approaching, Schmidt notes there doesn\u2019t seem to be many \u201csafe topics\u201d anymore. \u201cMaybe our shared history can be that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt belongs to everybody,\u201d he emphasizes, expressing his personal hope that their production \u201chelps with some of that healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve \u201cmade this film for everybody\u201d Burns tells<\/a> \u201cToday\u201d show\u2019s Craig Melvin, noting that he\u2019s shared the same message with Joe Rogan that he has with The New York Times editorial board and inner city kids in Charleston and Detroit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our story; this is how we came about. And I think if we could revitalize and understand what \u2026 made us who we are, it might help us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deeper history, deeper love\"\"A scene from the PBS documentary \u201cThe American Revolution,\u201d produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. The film premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m. MST. | Design \u00a9 2025 Public Broadcasti <\/p>\n

Referring to the societal division that can feel \u201ca mile wide,\u201d Burns say<\/a>s<\/a>, \u201cI would like to get through that, to figure out how to have another 250 years after this celebration.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI think when you\u2019re in trouble, you want to go back and figure out what your origin is,\u201d Burns adds. Yet his co-director Schmidt tells the Deseret News, \u201cWe don\u2019t often think about the American Revolution that much. If we do, it\u2019s in an oil painting, you know, or even looking at the dollar bill or the flag. It\u2019s detached.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"Directors Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt and writer Geoffrey C. Ward discuss during a screening of the PBS documentary \u201cThe American Revolution.\u201d The film premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m. MST. | Joe DePlasco, Public Broadcastin <\/p>\n

But the true history of the American nation involved profound suffering, death and sacrifice, he says. \u201cThere\u2019s war refugees. People died of disease. It\u2019s a really messy thing, war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I love my country so much more, having undertaken the time to understand this history \u2014 to understand what people were sacrificing for what they achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmidt says it is important to understand that in times of \u201cdeep uncertainty\u201d \u2014 like the Revolution itself \u2014 \u201cthere\u2019s opportunity and there\u2019s possibility.\u201d <\/p>\n

Having spent years detailing the whole saga, he says, \u201call of it makes me care an awful lot about this place we call the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seeing the revolution with fresh eyes\"\"Cinematographer Buddy Squires climbs rigging on the Godspeed at Jamestown Settlement to film a scene from the PBS documentary \u201cThe American Revolution,\u201d produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. The film premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m. MST. | Vicky Lee, Public Broadcasting S <\/p>\n

Rather than just an American war, Burns highlights<\/a> this historic conflict as \u201cthe fourth global war over the prize of North America\u201d \u2014 as well as the first of two civil wars in the country. <\/p>\n

And \u201cwe did not win alone,\u201d Botstein adds. \u201cWe won with the incredible aid of our French allies, and then the French were major losers after the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the leaders highlighted throughout history, these filmmakers showcase the experience and contributions of Native Americans, women and free Black Americans. <\/p>\n

Burns quotes<\/a> Benjamin Rush, a physician who signed the Declaration of Independence and \u201clater said the American Revolution is still going on, meaning, we are a country in the process of becoming.\u201d <\/p>\n

Referencing the ongoing evolution of our understanding of \u201call men are created equal,\u201d Burns adds, \u201cso we\u2019re in the process of opening up the American story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seeing ourselves in the history\"\"A scene from the PBS documentary \u201cThe American Revolution,\u201d produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt. The film premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m. MST. | Design \u00a9 2025 Public Broadcasti <\/p>\n

Botstein notes \u201cthe founders wanted us to be an educated and virtuous and thoughtful Republic.\u201d <\/p>\n

Schmidt says producers had aspirations for \u201creaching and welcoming as many people into the story as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

Speaking personally, he admitted that even after a decade of work on the project, he felt even more curious about the past. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hope they watch the whole thing,\u201d Botstein says of viewers. Like reading a whole book, she says, \u201cyou don\u2019t really understand what we\u2019re trying to get at unless you watch the whole thing. So I\u2019d ask viewers to reserve judgment till the last shot in the last episode, because it\u2019s saying something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accompanying educational materials are being prepared for 3rd to 12th grades. <\/p>\n

The first episode premieres Sunday at 5 p.m. MST on PBS or livestreamed through the PBS app, PBS.org or other station-branded PBS platforms<\/p>\n

Through their 12-hour unfolding, Botstein says, \u201cWe want to give you enough time to find yourself and your family and your people you know in them, to share some kinship with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Cinematographer Buddy Squires and assistant cameraperson Jared Ames film a scene on-location at Crown Point State Historic Site on Lake Champlain for the PBS documentary \u201cThe American Revolution,\u201d produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. The film premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m. MST. | Megan Ruffe, Public Broadcasting <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After 10 years of work, $30 million, and the use of 60 voice actors and 18,000 maps, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294695,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206,111],"class_list":{"0":"post-294694","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}