Ben Franklin's World

Episode 425: Ken Burns’s The American Revolution

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What does it take to bring the American Revolution to life?

How can an event that took place 250 years ago be conveyed to us through modern-day film?

Ken Burns and his team worked to answer these questions in their new, epic six-part documentary, Ken Burns’s The American Revolution. Their work promises to deepen, complicate, and transform our understanding of the Revolution over 12 hours of film.

But how did Burns and his team make this film? What stories did they choose to tell? And what challenges did they face in telling those stories?

Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, the two co-directors of The American Revolution, join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of their film and how they made it.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Episode Summary

Filmmakers Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt join us to take a behind-the-scenes look at their co-directed documentary film The American Revolution: A Film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, & David Schmidt. Sarah and David are filmmakers at Florentine Films and have worked on projects such as Jazz (2001), The Vietnam War (2017), and Benjamin Franklin (2022).

During our conversation about their latest project, Ken Burns’ The American Revolution, Sarah and David reveal:

1. How they tackled the visual and narrative challenges of documenting a war that has no photographs and few surviving contemporary images.

2. The inclusive and ever-evolving process they used to uncover lesser-known voices of the Revolution, from Native Americans to women and free and enslaved African Americans.

3. Why they believe history—and the history of the Revolution in particular—can inspire civic engagement in our present movement.

What You’ll Discover
  • The story behind making Ken Burns’ The American Revolution
  • The art of documentary filmmaking
  • How The American Revolution transcends our present-day moment
  • The process of documentary filmmaking
  • Image use in Ken Burns’ The American Revolution
  • Researching casualty counts for the War for Independence
  • How to cover the American Revolution in 12 hours
  • How Ken Burns’ The American Revolution covers Indigenous history
  • The role Africans and African Americans played in The American Revolution
  • The American Revolution as a refugee story
  • The American Revolution and our twenty-first century
    • Links to People, Places, and Publications
    • Florentine Films
    • Sarah Botstein
    • David Schmidt
    • The American Revolution: A Film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, & David Schmidt
    • The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick
    • Benjamin Franklin: A Film by Ken Burns
    • Alonso Chappel
    • Jennie Augusta Brownscomb
    • Transcript
      • Sponsor Links
      • Ken Burns’ The American Revolution Watch Party
        • Time Warp Question

        In your opinion, what if we were living in more united times? How might a more united American populace have changed the story in the documentary, The American Revolution?

        Complementary Episodes

        Episode 307: History and the American Revolution

        Episode 314: Native Americans in Early American Cities
        Episode 327: Ken Burns’ Benjamin Franklin
        Episode 352: James Forten and the Making of the United States
        Episode 382: Hessians
        Episode 408: The Memory of 1776
        Episode 423: Forgotten Artists of the American Revolution

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