American Experience

Vision, Mission & Values

Produced by WGBH/Boston, American Experience is television’s most-watched and longest running history series. In its more than twenty years on PBS, the series has been honored with nearly every industry award, including the Peabody, Primetime Emmys, the duPont-Columbia Journalism Award, Writers Guild Awards, Oscar nominations, and Sundance Film Festival Audience and Grand Jury Awards. On television, in theaters, at festivals, and online American Experience films tackle subjects ranging from America at war and the struggle for civil rights to controversial medical advances and profound economic transformations. Spanning more than 200 years of history, the topics explored by the series are as relevant to and resonant as the stories that dominate today’s headlines, engaging citizens across the country in dialogue about critical contemporary issues. In April 2010 American Experience presents Earth Days, the closing night film of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. As we come to grips with current environmental challenges, Earth Days sheds light on the birth of the modern environmental movement, reminding us that what we are up against as a planet is not a new challenge, but an old one that requires renewed commitment and creativity. My Lai also premieres in April. As the United States once again finds itself questioning the morality of actions taken in the name of war, this compelling documentary explores one of the world’s most notorious massacres, and asks what drove a company of soldiers to commit the worst atrocity in American military history. Also in the pipeline is The Stonewall Uprising, a film that looks at the 1969 riot in Greenwich Village that gave rise to the modern gay civil rights movement. As citizens and leaders debate gay marriage and gay service in the military, this documentary offers critical context. American Experience is committed to telling stories from our past that help us as a nation take stock of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going.

Media Strategy...

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External URL

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/