Posts Tagged ‘nature documentary’

Sunday marked the first day of PBS’s broadcast of the most recent documentary by Ken Burns, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. The documentary, which has been broadcasted throughout the week, is a six-episode series directed by Burns that showcases the grandeur of American nation parks such as Acadia, Yosemite, Arches, the Grand Canyon, the Everglades and the Gates of the Arctic. In addition spellbinding panoramas of the magnificence of nature, the film explores the human ties to the land, focusing on the people that are connected to these locations in a myriad of different ways.

Burns, who was born in New York but earned a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA and currently resides in Walpole, NH, is most well known for his three documentaries The War, Baseball, and The Civil War, which earned over 40 major film and television awards including two Emmys, two Grammys, the Producer of the Year Award from the Producers Guild of America, the People’s Choice Award and the Peabody Award, among many others. Until today, many critics consider The Civil War Burns’ masterpiece.

Burns got his start on PBS with The Brooklyn Bridge, which he produced in 1981. The film detailed the history of the Brooklyn Bridge, formerly called the Great East River Bridge, and its effects on American culture past and present. It was nominated for an Academy Award a year later. Since then at least 19 films by Burns have been featured on PBS and he has produced and directed many others.

The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is broadcasting on PBS throughout this week. Check your local listings for show times or visit the PBS website for a complete schedule of all the episodes within the series.