Award-Winning Filmmaker, Ken Burns, Comes To Fort Lauderdale
CONTACT:
Cammy Richards
Director Communications
WPBT2
305-424-4013
cammy_richards@wpbt.org
Kristina Gutierrez
Supervisor of Community Outreach/Events
WPBT2
305-424-4025
kristina_gutierrez@wpbt.org
Miami, FL, April 19, 2011- WPBT2, in association with the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, welcomes Ken Burns as he hosts a community screening for his new PBS documentary, Prohibition. The screening will be held on Thursday, June 9th at 6:30 p.m. at the Parker Playhouse, Fort Lauderdale. Burns will lead a discussion on the film with local experts on the broader topics of civility and democracy, which he explores in this project. Burns will also answer audience questions following the screening. Guests are invited to dress in their favorite outfits from the 1920s and enjoy music from that era prior to the screening. Admission is $5.00 and tickets are available online at www.mychannel2.org/kenburns or by calling 305-424-4025 or 305-424-4013.
Burns has been making films for more than thirty years. Named as one of the most influential documentary makers of all time, Burns has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made including The Civil War, Baseball, The Tenth Inning, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Jazz, The War and many more.
The new Ken Burns documentary, Prohibition, is scheduled to air on WPBT2 in Fall 2011. The three-part, documentary film series, directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, tells the story of the rise, rule and fall of the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution and the entire era it encompassed. The film raises vital questions that are as relevant today as they were 100 years ago – about means and ends, individual rights and responsibilities, and the proper role of government.
“Ken’s films connect us, no matter what our background, heritage or station in life, to our country’s past in a way that provides us with an understanding of the present and the issues shaping our lives today,” said Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Burns’ films have won twelve Emmy Awards and two Oscar nominations, and in September 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Local partners for the screening include: Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, City of Fort Lauderdale Centennial Committee and the Broward County Cultural Division, a service of Art Serve, Inc.
Funding for the broadcast of Prohibition is provided by Bank of America; Public Broadcasting Service; Corporation for Public Broadcasting; National Endowment for the Humanities; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; members of the Better Angels Society, including the Montrone Family through the Penates Foundation; and Park Foundation, Inc.
About WPBT2
South Florida’s premier public broadcaster, WPBT2, is a community-licensed, not-for-profit media enterprise serving communities from the Treasure Coast to the Florida Keys. WPBT2 provides high quality content from PBS, independent acquisitions and its own original productions. WPBT2’s digital media platform, offers: 2HD, a 24-hour high definition channel; Digital 2.2, a mix of Science & Nature Channel, The Florida Channel and Create; Digital 2.3, V-me, a 24-hour national Spanish-language network; and www.wpbt2.org, the WPBT2 website including, Impromp2 (a community blog), the WPBT2 Video Player and uVu, a video sharing website.
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VIDEO:
Event PromoProhibition Preview
PHOTOS:
01. Prohibition Logos for Print
Hi-Res JPEG (.jpg) | Illustrator (.ai)
02. Ken Burns
03. Prohibition marchers
04. Enforcing the 18th Amendment
05. Farewell to the 18th Amendment
