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PBS

Preview Ken Burns’ next work: The Vietnam War

Ken Burns, Winter TCA 2017, The Vietnam War
Ken Burns at the winter Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Rahoul Ghose/PBS)

by Andy Dehnart 18 Apr. 2017 | 8:57 am

Ken Burns’ next epic documentary project for PBS is The Vietnam War, which won’t air for another five months. PBS just announced its debut date—the 10-part series airs nightly for two weeks from Sunday through Thursday starting Sept. 17—and released new footage.

For the film, Burns and Lynn Novick co-directed, and they collaborated with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who produced the documentary’s original score. It includes interviews with “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,” according to PBS.

Here’s two minutes of The Vietnam War:

In a separate preview, below, Novick say the war “remains this kind of unfinished business in American history,” and Burns says, “This film is not an answer, but a set of questions about what happened.”

He calls it “the most ambitious project that we have ever undertaken—PBS is the only place it could have been done.”

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about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart’s writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Vulture, Pacific Standard, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He has covered reality television for more than 18 years, and created reality blurred in 2000.

A member of the Television Critics Association who serves on its board of directors, Andy, 41, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. Learn more about reality blurred and Andy.

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reality blurred is your guide to the world of reality TV and unscripted entertainment, with reality show reviews, news, and analysis. It was created in 2000 by Andy Dehnart. He's still writing and publishing it today.

reality blurred is regularly updated with highlights from the world of reality TV: news and analysis; behind-the-scenes reports; interviews with reality TV show cast members and producers; and recaps and reviews of these reality TV shows, including Survivor, Big Brother, The Great British Baking Show, Shark Tank, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, Project Runway, Dancing with the Stars, Top Chef, and many more.

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