Ken Burns Visits the College of Charleston

South Carolina ETV and Public Radio (SCETV), the College of Charleston, SC250 and SC250 Charleston welcomed award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns to Charleston for an exclusive preview of the new series, The American Revolution, directed by Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt.

The May 14 event included a screening of excerpts from the upcoming documentary airing on SCETV’s network and public television stations across the nation beginning Nov. 16, 2025. The screening was followed by a discussion moderated by SCETV President and CEO Adrienne Fairwell with Burns, American historian Kathleen DuVal and noted South Carolina historian and host of SC Public Radio’s Walter Edgar’s Journal Walter Edgar.

At a press conference held in the Cistern Yard, Burns said, “I won’t work on a more important film in my professional life than this history of the American Revolution.”

He quoted Mark Twain and Thomas Jefferson and talked about the value of lifelong learning. He said his mission in filmmaking is to create films that will be shown on public media for generations: “The only thing that will change a person’s point of view is a good story, and I have spent the last 50 years in the good-story business.”

The good-story business does not always result in a pretty story.

“The story of the Revolution is complicated and interesting, but for some reason we have encrusted the Revolution with the barnacles of sentimentality and nostalgia,” said Burns.

Burns and his team spent nine years working on the film to tell the true, unbarnacled version of the story. Much of the time was spent filming re-enactors to collect hours of footage in an impressionistic way.

Burns, widely recognized as one of the greatest documentary filmmakers of our time, has dedicated his career to chronicling the American experience through films such as The Civil War, Baseball and Jazz, as well as documentaries on national parks, the Roosevelts, Mark Twain and Jackie Robinson. Having produced films for PBS for over 25 years, he has earned numerous accolades, including Emmy and Peabody awards, with works like The Vietnam War and Country Music offering deep explorations of pivotal moments and cultural influences in American history.

The American Revolution is a six-part, 12-hour documentary series that examines how America’s founding turned the world upside down. Thirteen British colonies on the Atlantic Coast rose in rebellion, won their independence and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired centuries of democratic movements around the globe.

The American Revolution will premiere on Nov. 16 on ETV-HD and air at 8 p.m. for six consecutive nights through Nov. 21. Viewers outside South Carolina can check local listings for additional broadcast times. The full series will also be available for streaming on PBS.org and in the PBS App.