Ric Burns | |
|---|---|
 Ric Burns (left) withBrian Keane (1995) | |
| Born | Eric Burns 1955 (age 69–70) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Columbia University (BA) University of Cambridge |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker,writer |
| Relatives | Ken Burns (brother),Sarah Burns (niece),Lilly Burns (niece) |
Ric Burns (Eric Burns, born 1955)[1] is an American documentaryfilmmaker andwriter. He has written, directed and produced historical documentaries since the 1990s, beginning with his collaboration on the celebratedPBS seriesThe Civil War (1990), which he produced with his older brotherKen Burns and wrote withGeoffrey Ward.
Born inBaltimore,Maryland, Burns moved toAnn Arbor,Michigan, at an early age and later attendedColumbia University andCambridge University,[2] breaking from his graduate work to join his brother on the production of theCivil War series. Since foundingSteeplechase Films in 1989, he has directed several programs forWGBH Boston'sAmerican Experience, includingConey Island (1991). Burns also wrote and directedThe Donner Party (1992).
In 1995, Burns wrote, directed, and co-producedThe Way West. In April 2002, he completed a documentary aboutAnsel Adams, a co-production of Steeplechase Films andSierra Club Productions forAmerican Experience. Since 2018, he has served as a trustee of theNational Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park, NC.
Burns is probably best known for his seriesNew York: A Documentary Film, which premiered nationally on PBS. The eight-part, seventeen-and-a-half-hour film chronicles the city's rise from a tinyDutch trading post through its continuing preeminence as an economic and cultural capital of the world.
The first five episodes ofNew York were broadcast in November 1999; the sixth and seventh episodes in the fall of 2001; and the eighth episode in September 2003. There will be a ninth episode, chronicling New York since the events of September 11, 2001.[3]
The Pilgrims (2015) has drawn renewed interest since Netflix featured it in late 2020 and PBS rebroadcast it on November 19, 2020, as a part of the American Experience series.
Mixing documentary with live acting, the film explores the history, politics, and personalities of the Pilgrims, from their exile in Holland through their subsequent voyage to, and lives in, the New World. While it touches on the universally accepted narrative—the romanticized, whitewashed, and fictionalized version—it reveals many details that would likely be unfamiliar, even shocking, to general audiences.
Burns's recently completed projects includeThe Chinese Exclusion Act (2018), a deeply American story of immigration and national identity, civil rights, and human justice—about how we define who can be an American and what being an American means. The film examines the economic, cultural, social, legal, racial, and political dimensions of the law; the forces and events that gave rise to it; and the effect it has had, and continues to have, on American culture and identity.[4][5]
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (2019) explores the riveting and profoundly moving life and work of this unique figure—an old-fashioned polymath and natural historian of the 19th century sort—who redefined our 21st century understanding of the brain and mind. The film is based in part on footage shot in the months before he died. With spellbinding candor, power, and humanity, it includes more than 80 hours with Sacks, his partner, Billy Hayes, and some of his closest friends, colleagues, and family members, as he grappled with the meaning of his life and his impending death.
His given name is Eric, but his family called him Ric.
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