© 2024 Michigan State University Board of Trustees
Public Media from Michigan State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

TV SPECIAL - Ken Burns: The Civil War 25th Anniversary

cannon on a hilltop set against a dark red sky
Courtesy
/
Florentine Films
Pictured: Civil War Cannon

Mon.-Fri. Sep. 7-11 at 9pm on WKAR-HD 23.1 | Ken Burns's epic documentary brings to life America's most destructive, and defining, conflict. Give Now to own this special anniversary edition on Blu-Ray or DVD.

As the country marks the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and the end of the Civil War, the award-winning film produced and directed by Ken Burns that first aired in September 1990, will be rebroadcast over five consecutive nights September  7-11, 2015. 

The broadcast, which coincides with the 25th anniversary of the original broadcast of THE CIVIL WAR, will present for the first time a newly restored high definition version. The restoration was done by Daniel J. White and supervised by Paul Barnes (lead editor of THE CIVIL WAR) of Ken Burns’s production company, Florentine Films, in association with the George Eastman House.  

Over the course of two months, 50,000 feet of the original 16mm film negative, which is preserved at the George Eastman House, was scanned frame by frame at 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels, the resolution used for Ultra High Definition).  The standard definition 1990 broadcast was taken from a duplicate of the original negative, resulting in a loss of quality. This is the first time the film will be seen with the exact same fidelity and framing as the negative that Burns and his co-cinematographers Allen Moore and Buddy Squires shot over 25 years ago. 

Give Now to own this special anniversary edition on Blu-Ray or DVD.
 

Journalism at this station is made possible by donors who value local reporting. Donate today to keep stories like this one coming. It is thanks to your generosity that we can keep this content free and accessible for everyone. Thanks!