A Conversation with Ken Burns

Filmmaker Ken Burns on Lessons from The American Revolution

Watch the latest “Slice of Citadel” with award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns as he reflects on storytelling, perseverance, and the enduring lessons of The American Revolution, his upcoming six-part series that examines the ideals and contradictions at the nation’s founding and why its lessons remain so essential today.

Over New York-style slices of pizza, Burns shared insights from five decades of documentary filmmaking, which includes such landmark films as The Civil War (1990) and Baseball (1994) to The Vietnam War (2017). Each story, he said, reveals something about perseverance, identity and the shared American experience. “The American Revolution wasn’t about taxation alone,” Burns said. “It was a radical moment when subjects became citizens, when people decided to invent a new way to govern themselves.” He pointed to a passage from the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” as a reminder of the lasting power of the American idea.

Looking back on his early career, Burns recalled the long road to his first documentary, Brooklyn Bridge (1981), and the rejection letters that once filled binders on his desk. “There are probably people with a lot more talent than I have,” he said, “but didn’t have the sort of perseverance to see it through.” For him, persistence turns passion into legacy, a lesson that continues to guide his work.

Burns’ latest film, The American Revolution, was nearly 10 years in the making, produced by a small team of about 20. “It’s like making maple syrup,” Burns said. “You keep it just below boiling for years, and the story slowly comes together.” The cast features Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew Rhys, who bring the voices of the Revolution to life in what Burns calls “both a history lesson and a mirror.”

Asked why the Revolution continues to resonate, Burns focused on its unfinished ideals. “The founders were flawed,” he said. “But they gave us ideas so powerful that we’ve spent 250 years trying to live up to them. The real story of America is in that striving.”

For Burns, studying history is a source of optimism. “Being engaged in history makes you optimistic,” he said. “It reminds us that the United States has always been a place of reinvention, a place where each generation renews the promise of liberty, equality and opportunity.”

Attendees received advance copies of Burns’s companion book, The American Revolution, which expands on the stories told in the series. The conversation offered a rare look at how great storytelling connects generations and deepens understanding. As Burns put it, “We make films about the U.S., but we also make films about us because history isn’t just about the past. It’s about finding out who we are.”

The American Revolution premieres on PBS stations across the country on November 16.