Jones/Burns

courtesy

Just this morning I sat down for a one on one interview with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns who is in town promoting his upcoming project about American National Parks. The conversation covered a variety of topics - past projects, working methods, and yes, a bit of the criticism leveled against him from various groups for feeling excluded from his documentaries, including a blog by a former San Antonian that takes it's name from this very issue. Burns was happy to defend himself on this issue. I never saw the WWII documentary so I'm not able to comment either way on the issue.

I probably won't be popular for saying this but I like Ken Burns' documentaries. Of course they aren't perfect, but he does things I still find interesting - he shoots on 16mm film, he has an elegant style, and his narrative structures are often effective.

Here it is...