Ken Burns — Director (13)
Jackie Robinson (2016) [TV] IMDb TMDB
Jackie Robinson
other title: 杰基·罗宾森
Jack Roosevelt Robinson rose from humble origins to cross baseball’s color line and become one of the most beloved men in America. A fierce integrationist, Robinson used his immense fame to speak out against the discrimination he saw on and off the field, angering fans, the press, and even teammates who had once celebrated him for “turning the other cheek.” After baseball, he was a widely-read newspaper columnist, divisive political activist and tireless advocate for civil rights, who later struggled to remain relevant as diabetes crippled his body and a new generation of leaders set a more militant course for the civil rights movement.
The U.S. and the Holocaust (2022) [TV] IMDb WikiData TMDB
The U.S. and the Holocaust
other title: Die USA und der Holocaust / L'Amérique face à l'Holocauste
Americans consider themselves a 'nation of immigrants', but as the catastrophe of the Holocaust unfolds in Europe, the U.S. prove unwilling to open its doors to more than a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of desperate refuge seekers. Through riveting firsthand testimony of witnesses and survivors who as children endured persecution, violence and flight as their families tried to escape Hitler, this three-part documentary series delves deeply into the tragic human consequences of public indifference, bureaucratic red tape and restrictive quota laws in America. Did the nation fail to live up to its ideals? This is a history to be reckoned with.
Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip (2003) [Movie] WikiData IMDb
Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip
director: Ken Burns actor: 汤姆·汉克斯 / 基思·大卫
other title: 霍雷肖的駕車之行:美國第一次公路旅行 / Pionierfahrt 1903: Mit 20 PS durch die USA
In the spring of 1903, on a whim and a fifty-dollar bet, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the new-fangled "horseless carriage." Most people doubted that the automobile had much of a future. Jackson's trip would prove them wrong.
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History (2014) [TV] TMDB IMDb
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
other title: 더 루스벨츠: 언 인터머트 히스토리 / Die Roosevelts - Eine amerikanische Saga
Chronicles the lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, three members of the most prominent and influential family in American politics. It is the first time in a major documentary television series that their individual stories have been interwoven into a single narrative. This seven-part, fourteen hour film follows the Roosevelts for more than a century, from Theodore’s birth in 1858 to Eleanor’s death in 1962.
The American Revolution (2025) [TV]
The American Revolution
director: Ken Burns actor: Peter Coyote
The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a war of conquest, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. It impacted millions from Vermont’s Green Mountains to the swamps of South Carolina, from Indian Country to the Iberian Peninsula. In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside-down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence, and established a republic that still endures. The American Revolution will present the story of the men and women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and defeat, and the crisis that they lived through.
The American Revolution (2025) [TV] WikiData IMDb KevGa-NeoDB TMDB
The American Revolution
director: Ken Burns actor: 彼德·考约特
The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a war of conquest, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. It impacted millions from Vermont’s Green Mountains to the swamps of South Carolina, from Indian Country to the Iberian Peninsula. In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside-down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence, and established a republic that still endures. The American Revolution will present the story of the men and women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and defeat, and the crisis that they lived through.
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1991) [Movie] WikiData IMDb Douban TMDB
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
director: Ken Burns actor: 杰森·罗巴兹 / Red Barber
other title: 空中帝国:无线电的制造者 / 廣播帝國:創造無線電的男人
For 50 years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” In Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways. This is the story of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.
Prohibition (2011) [TV] IMDb TMDB
Prohibition
director: Ken Burns / Lynn Novick actor: Peter Coyote / Daniel Okrent
other title: 禁酒令 / 켄 번스: 금주법
The history of the rise, rule and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the entire era it encompassed (1920-33). After nearly a century of activism, Prohibition was intended to improve the lives of all citizens by protecting individuals, families and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse; but paradoxically it made millions of people rethink their definition of morality.
Baseball (1994) [Movie] Douban
Baseball
director: Ken Burns
other title: 棒球全史 / 棒球风云
Inning One, Our Game, looks at the origins of baseball in the 1840s and takes the story up to 1900. Burns refutes the myth that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown and traces its roots instead to the earliest days of the nation — there are records of a game called "Base" played at Valley Forge.
Inning Two, Something Like a War, takes viewers through 1910 and introduces some of the game's most celebrated and colorful characters, including Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.
Inning Three, The Faith of Fifty Million People, examines the century's second decade, which was dominated by the Black Sox scandal. George Herman "Babe" Ruth makes his first major league appearance (as a member of the Boston Red Sox) and a wave of immigration helps fill the stands with new fans, eager to "become American" by learning America's game.
Inning Four, A National Heirloom, concentrates on Babe Ruth, whose phenomenal performance thrilled the nation throughout the 1920s and rescued the game from the scandal of the previous decade.
Inning Five, Shadow Ball, tells the story of the Negro Leagues in the 1930s. The title refers to a common pre-game feature in which the players staged a mock game with an imaginary ball. Though unintended, the pantomime was an apt metaphor for the exclusion of blacks from major league play at that time.
Inning Six, The National Pastime, covers the 1940s and includes Joe DiMaggio's celebrated hitting streak, the awe-inspiring performance of Ted Williams and what Burns calls "baseball's finest moment" — the debut of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
Inning Seven, The Capital of Baseball, takes viewers through the 1950s when New York City had three successful baseball teams and dominated the World Series. By the end of the decade, the Giants and Dodgers had left New York, a signal that the old game was changed forever.
Inning Eight, A Whole New Ball Game, moves the field to the 1960s. This episode traces the emergence of television, the expansion to new cities and the building of anonymous multipurpose stadiums that robbed the game of its intimacy and some of its urban following.
Inning Nine, Home, looks at baseball from the 1970s to the present, including the establishment of the free agent system, the rise in player salaries, the continued expansion, the dilution of talent, the ongoing battles between labor and management and the scandals.
布鲁克林大桥 (1981) [Movie] Douban
Brooklyn Bridge
director: Ken Burns actor: Paul Roebling / Julie Harris
other title: Brooklyn Bridge
This documentary chronicles the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. The difficult construction process is described in interesting detail; later parts of the film interview current notables who describe the effects that the Brooklyn Bridge has had upon New York society and beyond.
The Shakers - Hands to Work, Hearts to God (1984) [Movie] Douban
The Shakers - Hands to Work, Hearts to God
director: Ken Burns / Amy Stechler
other title: PBS震颠教派:亲手工作,全心属主
早在十七世纪中,就有追求宗教信仰自由的人,自英格兰、爱尔兰等地渡海来到北美。1774年,八位属於贵格会的信徒,跟随领导人李安女士(Ann Lee),为躲避迫害,渡海来到纽约。因他们强调圣灵充满,及受灵感后的悸动,故又称“颤动者”(Shakers)。他们近乎“圣洁”的生活方式,渐渐引起注意,吸引不少人来寻求灵命引导。
此后十餘年内,Shakers在麻州、康乃迪克州、 New Hampshire 及缅因州建立了社区,过着如使徒时代“凡物公用”、不浪费、不懒惰、不虚谈、整洁有序、照顾贫困的社区生活。“亲手工作,全心属主”(Hands to Work, Hearts to God),这是Shakers尽到管家责任的基本信念,是他们建立“人间天上”的法则。
位於New Hampshire州Canterbury的Shaker社区设於1792年,至1992年最后一位老姊妹辞世止,共历两百年,现已改成纪念园区。这庄园佔地四千亩,目前保有二十餘栋木造建筑,农田仍有人耕种,木工房与蜂房也有人操作,他们曾以农艺与木工闻名。洗衣房内仍有他们最早发明的蒸气洗衣烘乾机,会堂(他们称为meeting room,即教堂)除了长木凳和墙上掛衣帽的鉤子外,一切清简,而只有一间课室的学堂,仍维持当年样式,这是他们教导所收容孤儿寡妇的地方。
在庄园里追想当年Shakers在此耕作敬拜,与世无争的生活情景,对照着现今人们喧嚣竞逐享受奢侈的日子,怎不令人羡慕嘆息?但由於工业化、城市化、物质化、社会福利政治化的结果,愈来愈少人肯走上这条简朴单纯的道路。如今,Shakers农庄只剩下缅因州的Sabbathday Lake一处,仍有五位兄弟姊妹维持此一传统。