Ken Burns

Filmmaker

Ken Burns is the wonder boy of modern documentary filmmaking, known for his PBS specials on the U.S. Civil War, baseball and jazz. His 1990 mini-series for public television, The Civil War, was a pop culture sensation in America when it aired in 1990. Burns's signature techniques -- particularly his use of a moving camera to explore still photos -- were quickly adopted by other filmmakers and led to something like a renaissance in documentary films. Burns's other major mini-series for public television include Baseball (1994), Jazz (2001) and Mark Twain (2003). He won Academy Award nominations for his documentaries Brooklyn Bridge (1981) and The Statue of Liberty (1986).