Ken Burns is a filmmaker and documentarian, best known for documentaries such as ‘Brooklyn Bridge’ (1981), ‘Baseball’ (1994), ‘Prohibition’ (2011), and ‘The Vietnam War’(2017).Â
His is known for his signature style of using a lot of archival material and footage, photographs, and periodicals in his films.Â
After earning his arts degree, he co-founded a production company called ‘Florentine Films,’ in 1976.Â
He started shooting documentaries as a producer for ‘BBC’ and soon made a feature documentary called ‘Brooklyn Bridge,’ which was nominated under the ‘Best Documentary’ category for ‘Oscars.’ His third documentary, ‘Statue of Liberty,’ got him another ‘Academy Award’ nomination.Â
Till date, he has released more than 20 documentaries, including ‘The Civil War’ (1990), ‘Thomas Jefferson’ (1997), ‘Jazz’ (2010), ‘Mark Twain’ (2011), ‘The National Parks: America's Best Idea ‘ (2009), ‘Jackie Robinson’ (2016), and ‘The Vietnam War’ (2017). He has also won several ‘Emmy Awards’ for his work.Â
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Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, the film chronicles the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge across the East River in New York City, giving interesting details about its difficult construction process. The later part features interviews by notable personalities, who talk about its effects on the city.
The war film features the legendary decisive Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. The three day intense war commences on July 1, 1863, when Gen. Lee leads the Confederates into Pennsylvania to confront the Union troops of Col. Chamberlain. As they fight for Little Round Top and Pickett’s Charge, the commanders deliberate over the strategies while the fatalities escalate on frontline.
Narrated by David McCullough, this is a documentary film, which examines a 19th century religious sect known as the Shakers. The film features interviews with several living Shakers, as well as with historians and philosophers.
The Central Park Five is a documentary film which examines the 1989 case of five black and Latino teen boys who were convicted of the brutal rape of a 28 year old female jogger in Central Park. After suffering immense racial discrimination and emotional stress, they are eventually found to be innocent after many years.
Ken Burns Awards
| The National Parks: America's Best Idea | Outstanding Nonfiction Series | 2010 |
| Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson | Outstanding Nonfiction Special | 2005 |
| Baseball | Outstanding Informational Series | 1995 |
| The Civil War | Outstanding Individual - Informational Programming | 1991 |
| The Civil War | Outstanding Informational Series | 1991 |
| Winner | Best Spoken Word or Non-musical Album | 1992 |
| Winner | Best Traditional Folk Album | 1992 |
