Florentine Films Archives, 1976-1997

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Summary

Creator:
Florentine Films.
Abstract:

Archival records and original film footage of Florentine Films and Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker, director, producer, and cinematographer. On some projects, Burns worked with Amy Stechler Burns, Stephen Ives, and others. Projects documented include: Working in Rural New England (1976), Brooklyn Bridge (1981), The Shakers (1984), Huey Long (1985), The Statue of Liberty (1985), Thomas Hart Benton (1988), The Congress (1988), The Civil War (1990), Empire of the Air (1991), William Segal (1992), Baseball (1994), Thomas Jefferson (1996), The West (1996), and Lewis & Clark (1997).

Extent:
6200 items (766.0 linear feet)
Language:
English.
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Florentine Films was founded in 1976 by Ken Burns, Roger Sherman, Buddy Squires, and Larry Hott, who work independently under the Florentine Films name. Florentine Films often works in cooperation with other organizations to produce films on various subjects.

Ken Burns is a documentary filmmaker, director, producer, and cinematographer. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1953 and graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., in 1975. His thesis film, Working in Rural New England, educated visitors at the Old Sturbridge Village living museum located in nearby Sturbridge, Mass. In 1981, he produced and directed the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge. He then made several other award-winning films, including The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God; The Statue of Liberty, also nominated for an Oscar; Huey Long, the story of the turbulent Southern dictator; The Congress: The History and Promise of Representative Government; Thomas Hart Benton, a portrait of the regionalist artist; and Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio. Burns also produced and directed three films, William Segal, Vezelay, and In the Marketplace, which explore the question of search and individual identity through the work and teachings of philosopher and painter William Segal. The three films are distributed together as Seeing, Searching, Being: William Segal.

Ken Burns was also the director, producer, co-writer, chief cinematographer, music director and executive producer of the television series The Civil War, which was the highest rated series in the history of American Public Television, attracting an audience of 40 million during its premiere in September 1990. He was the director, producer, co-writer, chief cinematographer, music director and executive producer of the Public Television series Baseball (1994), which was then the most watched series in PBS history, attracting more than 45 million viewers. In the fall of 1996, The West was released, followed by Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (1997); Frank Lloyd Wright, co-directed and produced with his longtime collaborator Lynn Novick (1998); Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (1999), co-produced with Paul Barnes; and Jazz (2001).

Scope and content:

Archival records and original film footage of Florentine Films and Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker, director, producer, and cinematographer. On some projects, Burns worked with Amy Stechler Burns, Stephen Ives, and others. Projects documented include: Working in Rural New England (1976), Brooklyn Bridge (1981), The Shakers (1984), Huey Long (1985), The Statue of Liberty (1985), Thomas Hart Benton (1988), The Congress (1988), The Civil War (1990), Empire of the Air (1991), William Segal (1992), Baseball (1994), Thomas Jefferson (1996), The West (1996), and Lewis & Clark (1997).

Custodial history:

Received from Kenneth L. Burns of Walpole, N.H., in 1991, with an addition in November 1993 (Acc. 103132). Received from Florentine Films in March 1998 (Acc. 98050), March 2000 (Acc. 98590), and January 2001 (Acc. 98821).

Processing information:

Processed by: Tim Pyatt and Roslyn Holdzkom, January 2001

Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, January 2001

Updated by: Anne Wells and Gregory Helmstetter, August 2017; Anne Wells and Andrew Crook, June 2019; Nancy Kaiser, October 2020; Andrew Crook and Laura Smith, December 2022; 2023; Andrew Crook and Dawne Lucas, 2024

This finding aid describes the administrative records and select archival film footage produced by Florentine Films and arranged by project. A complete inventory to the archival film footage is not available. The original film shipping lists are available for some projects. Please consult with reference staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

Sensitive materials statement:

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

Much of the collection is unprocessed and requires staff assistance or creation of viewing copies prior to use. Potential researchers should contact Southern Folklife Collection Research and Instructional Services staff in advance of their anticipated use of the collection.

This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.

Use of audio or moving image materials may require production of listening or viewing copies.

Restrictions to use:

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Florentine Films Archives #20193, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu