The Statue of Liberty (film)

Last updated
The Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Ken Burns
Written by
Produced by
Narrated by David McCullough
Edited byBuddy Squires
Distributed by PBS
Release date
  • October 28, 1985 (1985-10-28)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Statue of Liberty is a 1985 American documentary film on the history of the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World). It was produced and directed by Ken Burns. [2] The film, which first aired in October 1985, was narrated by historian David McCullough. [3]

Contents

Contributors

The film includes readings by Jeremy Irons and Arthur Miller, among others. [4] McCullough, then-New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, former congresswoman Barbara Jordan, director Miloš Forman, writers James Baldwin [5] and Jerzy Kosiński, historian Vartan Gregorian, musician Ray Charles, and poet Carolyn Forché are among those interviewed.

Paul Simon's 1973 song "American Tune" is heard at the beginning and end of the film. [6] Also included are vintage clips dealing with the Statue of Liberty from the films The Immigrant (1917), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Anything Can Happen (1952), and Planet of the Apes (1968).

Accolades

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Liberty</span> Colossal sculpture in New York Harbor

The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper statue, a gift to the U.S. from the people of France, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to Kukan and Target for Tonight. They have since been bestowed competitively each year, with the exception of 1946. Copies of every winning film are held by the Academy Film Archive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Burns</span> American documentarian and filmmaker (born 1953)

Kenneth Lauren Burns is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the National Endowment for the Humanities and distributed by PBS.

<i>The Civil War</i> (miniseries) 1990 documentary film series by Ken Burns

The Civil War is a 1990 American television documentary miniseries created by Ken Burns about the American Civil War. It was the first broadcast to air on PBS for five consecutive nights, from September 23 to 27, 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David McCullough</span> American historian and author (1933–2022)

David Gaub McCullough was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey C. Ward</span> American writer and historian

Geoffrey Champion Ward is an American editor, author, historian and writer of scripts for American history documentaries for public television. He is the author or co-author of 19 books, including 10 companion books to the documentaries he has written. He is the winner of seven Emmy Awards.

Jazz is a 2001 television documentary miniseries directed by Ken Burns. It was broadcast on PBS in 2001 and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Its chronological and thematic episodes provided a history of jazz, emphasizing innovative composers and musicians and American history.

The Ken Burns effect is a type of panning and zooming effect used in film and video production from non-consecutive still images. The name derives from extensive use of the technique by American documentarian Ken Burns. This technique had also been used to produce animatics, simple animated mockups used to previsualize motion pictures, but Burns's name has become associated with the effect in much the same way as Alfred Hitchcock is associated with the dolly zoom.

Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got is a 1985 Canadian documentary film about clarinetist Artie Shaw. It was written, directed and narrated by Brigitte Berman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Chin</span> American mountain climber and film director and skier (born 1973)

Jimmy Chin is an American professional mountain athlete, photographer, skier, film director, and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Baker (filmmaker)</span> American director, producer and screenwriter

Sean Baker is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing independent feature films about the lives of sex workers, including Take Out (2004), Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), The Florida Project (2017), Red Rocket (2021), and Anora (2024), the last of which won him the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. He is also known for creating the Fox/IFC puppet sitcom Greg the Bunny (2002–2006) and its spin-offs.

Brooklyn Bridge is a documentary film on the history of the Brooklyn Bridge and the directorial debut of Ken Burns. It was produced by Burns, Roger Sherman, Buddy Squires, and Amy Stechler in 1981.

Huey Long is an American documentary film on the life and career of the politician Huey Long. It was directed by Ken Burns, and produced by Ken Burns and Richard Kilberg in 1985. The film first aired on October 15, 1986. The film includes interviews with Russell B. Long, author Robert Penn Warren, and political contemporary and opponent Cecil Morgan. It was narrated by the historian David McCullough.

The Johnstown Flood is a 1989 American short documentary film directed by Charles Guggenheim about the Johnstown Flood. David McCullough, author of the 1968 book, The Johnstown Flood, hosted the film.

The Documentary Film Institute, is an independent organization within San Francisco State University that is dedicated to support non-fiction cinema by promoting documentary films and filmmakers and producing films on socially and culturally important topics which deserve wider recognition. The current director is Soumyaa Behrens. It is situated within the College of Liberal & Creative Arts at San Francisco State University, with access to a broad cross-section of educational institutions in San Francisco and the Bay Area. It is a resource for undergraduate and graduate students studying film in the area as well as faculty interested in the artistic and politic dimensions of documentary cinema.

The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God is a 1984 documentary film by Ken Burns.

<i>The Great Bridge</i> (book) 1972 book by David McCullough

The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge is a 1972 book about the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge written by popular historian David McCullough. It provides a history of the engineering that went into the building of the bridge as well as the toils John A. Roebling, the designer of the bridge, went through with his son Washington Roebling to bring the bridge to its completion. The book went on to win two awards in 1973; the Certificate of Merit Municipal Art Society, NY, and the New York Diamond Jubilee Award.

Lilly Burns is an American television producer who co-founded Jax Media. In January 2022, she was named president of Imagine Entertainment.

References

  1. "Broken Rainbow Wins Documentary Feature: 1986 Oscars". Archived from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  2. "Where to Stream 11 Essential Ken Burns Documentaries - NYT Watching". Archived from the original on 2023-11-09. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  3. "UNC-TV". Archived from the original on 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  4. "Ken Burns American Stories: The Statue of Liberty (1985) - Ken Burns|Cast and Crew|AllMovie". Archived from the original on 2019-10-30. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  5. "Ken Burns Explains How Confederate Statues and The Statue of Liberty Represent 'Myth, Not Fact' - Esquire". Archived from the original on 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  6. "Amazon.com". Archived from the original on 2012-11-29. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  7. "1986|Oscars.org". Archived from the original on 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2024-07-02.