Florentine Films
1) The address
Pub. Date
[2014]
Physical Desc
1 videodisc (90 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
"At the tiny Greenwood School in the small New England town of Putney, Vermont, its roughly 50 students, boys from the ages 11 to 17 are asked each year to memorize the Gettysburg Address. This would be a daunting assignment for any student, but the boys at Greenwood all suffer from learning differences that have made their personal, academic and social progress extremely challenging. As the students come to terms with the address's simple message...
2) Jazz
Pub. Date
©2004
Physical Desc
10 videodiscs (1140 min.) : sound, color with black and white sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Documentary exploring the history of jazz from its beginnings through the 1990's, including the stories of many of its creators and performers. Includes archival video, still photographs, historical performances, and newly recorded interviews and musical performances.
3) The Shakers
Pub. Date
2004, ©1989
Physical Desc
1 videodisc (approximately 58 min.) : sound, color with black and white sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
This revealing and poignant film by Ken Burns portrays 200 years of Shaker life in America, guided by the recollections of the three surviving members of the faith, along with a wealth of archival material from over 40 collections. Explore every aspect of this strange and noble sect that produced some of the greatest architecture and furniture in American history.
Pub. Date
c2007
Physical Desc
1 videodisc (60 min.) : sd., col. and b&w ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Kentucky is home to some of the greatest country stars of all time. Still today, inspired Country, Gospel, Bluegrass and Mountain music echo from every hollow. Follows country music to its very roots, searching out local national treasures who live for the music they play. Set against the backdrop of the Kentucky countryside, seamlessly weaving wonderful music and intimate stories.
Pub. Date
c2009
Physical Desc
6 videodiscs (750 min.) : sd., col. and b&w ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Traces the birth of the national park idea in the mid-1800s and follows its evolution for nearly 150 years. Using archival photographs, first-person accounts of historical characters, personal memories and analysis from more than 40 interviews, and what Burns believes is the most stunning cinematography in Florentine Films' history, the series chronicles the steady addition of new parks through the stories of the people who helped create them and...
Pub. Date
2023.
Physical Desc
2 videodiscs (approximately 240 min.) : sound, color with black and white sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
America's national mammal sustained the lives of Native people for untold generations before being driven to the brink of extinction, eventually prompting an unlikely collection of people to rescue it from disappearing forever.
Pub. Date
2019.
Physical Desc
8 videodiscs (approx. 16 hours) : sound, color and black and white ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Ken Burns chronicles the history of a uniquely American art form, rising from the experiences of remarkable people in distinctive regions of the nation. From its roots in ballads, hymns, and the blues to its mainstream popularity, viewers will follow the evolution of country music over the course of the twentieth century as it eventually emerged to become America's music. Features never-before-seen footage and photographs, plus interviews with more...
Pub. Date
c2004
Physical Desc
2 videodiscs (240 min.) : sd., col., b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Tells the story of the most important expedition in American history, led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Includes the stories of the young army men, French-Canadian boatmen, Clark's African-American slave, and the Shoshone woman named Sacagawea who went with them.
Pub. Date
[2022]
Physical Desc
2 videodiscs (240 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
A two-part, four-hour documentary that explores America's youth mental health crisis through the eyes of more than twenty young people, who speak about their lived experience with mental health challenges, from depression to addiction to suicide ideation.
10) Thomas Jefferson
Pub. Date
[2004], c1997
Physical Desc
1 videodisc (ca. 180 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Examines the life of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence.
Pub. Date
2022.
Physical Desc
2 videodiscs (approximately 240 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Ken Burns's two-part, four-hour documentary explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century's most complex and consequential figures, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States.
Pub. Date
©2003
Physical Desc
1 videodisc (107 min.) : sound, color w/b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Horatio Nelson Jackson, an eccentric Vermont doctor, drove from San Francisco to New York City, in 1903 to became the first person to drive an automobile across the continent - a feat never before accomplished. It would mark the beginning of a new era in America and the end of another. It took Lewis & Clark over two years to go from the Atlantic to the Pacific - Horatio went the opposite direction, by means of the "Horseless carriage", in less than...
Pub. Date
[2020]
Physical Desc
2 videodiscs (approximately 240 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Scientific genetics, little more than a century old, holds at once the promise of eradicating disease and the threat of altering the very essence of what it means to be human. It traces the dizzying evolution of this new science as researchers race to identify treatments for genetic diseases, such as cancer and sickle cell anemia, and to perfect tools for rewriting DNA.
Pub. Date
[2021]
Physical Desc
3 videodiscs (approximately 6 hr.) : sound, color with black and white sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Examine the visionary work and turbulent life of one of the greatest and most influential American writers: Ernest Hemingway. Intimate and insightful, the series weaves together Hemingway's biography with excerpts from his work. The film penetrates the myth of Hemingway to reveal a deeply troubled and ultimately tragic figure.
Pub. Date
2013
Physical Desc
1 videodisc (120 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Chronicles America's complicated perceptions of race and crime through the story of the "Central Park 5" -- a group of minority teenagers wrongfully convicted and jailed for brutally raping a white woman in New York.
16) Prohibition
Pub. Date
[2011]
Physical Desc
3 videodiscs (ca. 360 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
This videodisc explores the extraordinary story of what happens when a freedom-loving nation outlaws the sale of intoxicating liquor, and the disastrous unintended consequences that follow. The utterly relevant cautionary tale raises profound questions about the proper role of government and the limits of legislating morality. When the country goes dry in 1920, after a century of debate, millions of law-abiding Americans become lawbreakers overnight....
17) The dust bowl
Pub. Date
c2012
Physical Desc
2 videodiscs (ca. 4 hrs.) : sd., col., b&w ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Ken Burns documents the worst human-made ecological disaster in American history, when a frenzied wheat boom on the southern Plains, followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s, nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation. Vivid interviews, dramatic photographs, and seldom-seen movie footage bring to life incredible stories of human suffering and perseverance. Includes bonus features.
18) Jackie Robinson
Pub. Date
[2016]
Physical Desc
2 videodiscs (approximately 240 min.) : sound, color with black and white sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Tells of the story of Jack Roosevelt Robinson, a sharecropper's son who elevated an entire race and country when he broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947. The film illuminates Robinson's place as a leader and icon of the civil rights movement whose exemplary life and aspirational message of equality continues to inspire generations of Americans. Includes interviews with family members and rarely-seen photographs and film footage.
19) The Vietnam War
Pub. Date
[2017]
Physical Desc
10 videodiscs (approximately 18 hr.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
In an immersive narrative, Burns and Novick tell the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. Features testimony from nearly 100 witnesses, including many Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as Vietnamese combatants and civilians from both the winning and losing sides.
20) Muhammad Ali
Pub. Date
[2021]
Physical Desc
4 videodiscs (approximately 7 hr., 30 min.) : sound, color with black and white sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Description
Examines the life of Muhammad Ali in and out of the boxing ring, covering his ties with the Nation of Islam, his political postions, including his refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War, his role as a symbol of Black masculinity, and life after boxing.