A luminous celebration of America’s 250th year, this evening with acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns—creator of The Civil War, Jazz, and The Vietnam War—reflects on the struggles and ideals that shaped a nation and transformed the world. Through sweeping music, vivid imagery, and Burns’s signature storytelling, The American Revolution reveals a war for independence and a revolution of ideas—an upheaval whose promises and contradictions still echo today. Part conversation, part concert, this narrative and musical meditation honors the spirit of independence and the enduring pursuit of the principles on which America was founded.

About Ken Burns
Ken Burns has been making documentary films for almost 50 years. Since the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Ken has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; The War; The National Parks: America’s Best Idea; Prohibition; The Roosevelts: An Intimate History; The Vietnam War; Country Music; The U.S. and the Holocaust; The American Buffalo; Leonardo da Vinci; and, most recently, The American Revolution. Future film projects include Emancipation to Exodus, and LBJ & the Great Society, among others.

Ken’s films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including 17 Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations. In September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In November of 2022, Ken was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.

Attendance at all events is subject to the Festival security policy.

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