Ken Burns Hosts Film Reel and Student Q&A on Campus
By Laurel Bennett, Staff Writer
Ken Burns speaking in the CUB Ballroom on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 at the start of his three-day-long film festival (Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College).
On Friday, Ken Burns hosted a talk and film reel presentation titled “Activism and Protest” from 3 to 4 p.m. in the CUB Ballroom. “Activism and Protest” was specifically compiled for his visit to Gettysburg.
The event was met with much excitement from attendees. Brandon Neely ’23 was glad to see Burns in person after watching his documentaries for many years.
“Growing up, Ken Burns’s documentary series was one of the things that I loved to watch with my grandfather. The fact that [Burns] is coming here as I’m studying [the] Civil War at Gettysburg is a perfect meeting,” Neely said.
President Iuliano gave opening remarks at the event to introduce Burns. He emphasized the importance of a consequential education at Gettysburg College and encouraged students to learn from Burns by deepening their knowledge of American history. Iuliano also highlighted the profound impact Burns has made worldwide.
Burns took to the podium, thanked the audience for being in attendance and discussed the power of stories to help viewers understand the world. Burns explained that through over 40 years in filmmaking, he portrayed the concept that human nature has not changed throughout history. He touched on the process of creating his documentaries on the Vietnam War, the Holocaust, and the American Revolution.
Burns then presented “Unum: One Nation, Many Stories.” This film reel featured excerpts from a number of his documentaries to show the importance of activism and protest.
The film reel first showed excerpts from “Women’s Suffrage,” which featured first-hand accounts from women that fought for the right to vote. Other included reels were “March on Washington,” which centered around the Civil Rights era, and “Mechanical Memory,” which portrayed Muhammad Ali’s religious activism.
A large part of the film reel highlighted the Vietnam War. “Failure of Nerve” and “Veterans for Peace” showed veterans pushing back against the war as well as the arrests that came as a result of protests.
Following the viewing of the film reel, Vice Provost Jack Ryan facilitated a question and answer session with Burns.
Through his answers, Burns explained the role of appealing to emotions in documentaries and their connection to activism and protest, and he connected this to the Vietnam War. Burns also touched on the concept of memory within his documentaries.
Burns discussed being a filmmaker, not a historian, and said that this has altered the narratives of his documentaries. He spoke about how his love for filmmaking came about and how this passion is intertwined with his mother, who died when he was young.
The question and answer session went on to focus on the intersections between history, cinematography, and activism.
Students who attended the event reflected on the opportunity to listen and learn from Burns.
Natalie Dolan ’23 said, “To see the collection of the works that [Burns] showed us was truly moving. His thoughtful answers afterward were inspiring as someone interested in going into the film industry.”
This presentation kicked off “Who Are We?: A Festival Celebrating the Films of Ken Burns” in Gettysburg. Events for this festival continue through Sunday.
