Ric Burns

Dante: Inferno to Paradise (2024)

Dante: Inferno to Paradise, by acclaimed filmmaker Ric Burns, explores the riveting life and times of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) and his soaring masterpiece "The Divine Comedy" – one of the greatest achievements in the history of Western literature. ...

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (2021)

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller, as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact ...

Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America (2020)

Discover how the advent of the automobile brought new mobility and freedom for African Americans but also exposed them to discrimination and deadly violence, and how that history resonates today. ...

Made for Each Other: A History of the Bond Between Humans and Dogs (2019)

Where did dogs come from and how did evolving alongside humans shape both them and us? MADE FOR EACH OTHER considers the history of the remarkable bond between humans and dogs and the many ways that dogs make our lives better. ...

The People of the Standing Stone: The Oneida Nation, The War for Independence, And The Making of America (2017)

Narrated by Academy Award Winner Kevin Costner, and directed by Emmy Award winner Ric Burns, PEOPLE OF STANDING STONE explores the little known, yet crucial history of the extraordinary contributions of one Native American people-the Oneidas-who during the ...

The Chinese Exclusion Act (2017)

A sweeping chronicle of the entire exclusion era - the latter part of the 1800s, when anti-Chinese agitation led to federal laws targeting Chinese abroad and those already in the country. Go far beyond the legislation with the survival and growth of Chines ...

The Mayflower Pilgrims: Behind The Myth (2016)

The voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 has come to define the founding moment of America, celebrated each year at Thanksgiving. A lavish new drama documentary by Ric Burns, based on governor William Bradford's extraordinary eye-witness account, the Mayflower ...

Aufbruch in die neue Welt (2016)

The Pilgrims (2015)

Arguably one of the most fateful and resonant events of the last half millennium, the Pilgrims journey west across the Atlantic in the early 17th century is a seminal, if often misunderstood episode of American and world history. The Pilgrims explores the ...

American Ballet Theatre: A History (2015)

Delve into the rich, 75-year history of one of the world's preeminent ballet companies. Ric Burns' documentary combines intimate rehearsal footage, virtuoso performances and interviews with American Ballet Theatre's key figures. Combined with hundreds of c ...

Enquiring Minds: The Untold Story of the Man Behind the National Enquirer (2014)

Chronicle of publisher Gene Pope Jr.'s celebrity gossip and scandal fused vision, which became The National Enquirer, America's most notorious tabloid. ...

Death and the Civil War (2012)

Based on the best-selling book by Drew Gilpin Faust, this film will explore how the American Civil War created a "republic of suffering" and will chart the far-reaching social, political, and social changes brought about by the pervasive presence and fear ...

Nantucket (2011)

The incredible story of the island of Nantucket, from its Native American origins as a Wampanoag outpost, through the English settlement and early Quaker culture, to its international significance as the whaling capital of the world, and eventual transform ...

Into the Deep: America, Whaling & The World (2010)

Examine the American whaling industry from its 17th-century origins in drift and shore whaling off the coast of New England and Cape Cod, through the golden age of deep ocean whaling, the tragedy of the Essex, and the career of Moby Dick's Herman Melville, ...

Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film (2006)

Ric Burns unearths rarely seen footage and offers keen observations on the life and artistic influence of Andy Warhol. [Made for and aired on PBS's American Masters series. ...

Eugene O’Neill: A Documentary Film (2006)

Eugene O'Neill tells the haunting story of the life and work of America's greatest and only Nobel Prize-winning playwright -- set within the context of the harrowing family dramas and personal upheavals that shaped him, and that he in turn struggled all hi ...

New York: The Center of the World (2003)

The final installment of the 17+ hour documentary on the history of New York by Ric Burns and James Sanders. The focus of this segment is the World Trade Center and the events of 9/11. ...

Ansel Adams (2002)

The timeless photographs of Ansel Adams have made him one of the most recognized and admired names in art. This intimate look at the man and his work details his position as a staunch environmentalist and how his art reflected his strong worldview. David O ...

The Concert for New York City (2001)

The Concert for New York City (2001) captures the star-studded benefit held at Madison Square Garden on October 20, 2001, honoring the city's resilience and the heroism of first responders after 9/11. Attended by thousands of firefighters, police officers, ...

New York: A Documentary Film (2001)

This short film, culled from the PBS documentary series of the same name, was produced to celebrate the importance and legacy of New York City in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. ...

New York: The City and the World (2001)

Episode Seven of the New York: A Documentary. In the aftermath of World War II, southern African-Americans moved north and Puerto Rican immigrants poured into the city, a trend which would continue for the next thirty years. Robert Moses waged a campaign o ...

New York: The City of Tomorrow (2001)

Reveals the immense new forces that were unleashed in New York. ...

New York: A Documentary Film (1999)

New York: Sunshine and Shadow (1865–1898) (1999)

Ric Burns (brother of the famed documentarian Ken Burns) presents an exhaustive history of New York City from the settling of the area by the Dutch to the attack by terrorists nearly 400 years later. Told in a sentimental tone, Burns weaves a lyrical tale ...

New York: Order and Disorder (1825–1865) (1999)

Ric Burns (brother of the famed documentarian Ken Burns) presents an exhaustive history of New York City from the settling of the area by the Dutch to the attack by terrorists nearly 400 years later. Told in a sentimental tone, Burns weaves a lyrical tale ...

New York: The Country And The City (1609-1825) (1999)

Ric Burns (brother of the famed documentarian Ken Burns) presents an exhaustive history of New York City from the settling of the area by the Dutch to the attack by terrorists nearly 400 years later. Told in a sentimental tone, Burns weaves a lyrical tale ...

New York Underground (1997)

In the mid 1800s, New York City was one of the most crowded places on earth. The congested streets and pokey transportation system were a source of constant complaint. On March 24, 1900, ground was broken for the Big Apple's subway; the Interborough Rapid ...

The Way West (1995)

A six-hour documentary series chronicling the way the West was lost and won between 1845 and 1893, broadcast nationally on PBS in May 1995 as part of WGBH's American Experience. The film looks at the final decades of the American frontier from the time of ...

The Donner Party (1992)

Doomed attempt to get to California in 1846. More than just a riveting tale of death, endurance and survival. The Donner Party's nightmarish journey penetrated to the very heart of the American Dream at a crucial phase of the nation's "manifest destiny." T ...

Coney Island (1991)

Before there was Disneyland, there was Coney Island. By the turn of the century, this tiny piece of New York real estate was internationally famous. On summer Sundays, three great pleasure domes--Steeplechase, Luna Park and Dreamland--competed for the pa ...

Men at Lunch (2013)

This remarkable new documentary explores the story behind one of the most iconic images of the twentieth century: the 1932 photograph of workmen taking their lunch while perched on a girder high above New York City. ...