The War New Mexico Stories

Because The War is such an important television event, KNME will offer several different ways to experience the 14-hour series.

• On TV. THE WAR will air on KNME TV 5 beginning in September.
• On KNME HD. Experience the series in high definition. KNME HD is free off air if you have an HD tuner and HD ready set.

Just tune in to KNME HD 5.1. If you’re a digital cable subscriber, you can watch The War on KNME’s HD channel 35.1.

The War, directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, explores the American experience of the Second World War through the lives of ordinary people in four American towns.

There are and have been many films that explore the broad history of the Second World War. In this particular documentary, the filmmakers set out to portray the personal stories or ordinary citizens in four towns, who lived through these cataclysmic years - on the battlefield and on the homefront.

In order to capture the power of the individual narrative, the producers sought individuals from four communities: Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama; Luverne, Minnesota; and Sacramento, California. From more than 500 people who were thoughtfully considered, the film features just 50 stories, woven together to try to bear witness to experiences of combat and of life at home. The film helps all of us comprehend the intimate human experience of the war.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS, and public television stations in every region of the country will be conducting, in conjunction with The War, an unprecedented outreach initiative designed to capture the stories of veterans.

Ken Burns has been making documentary films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of Ken’s films, “More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source.” A December 2002 poll conducted by RealScreen Magazine listed The Civil War as second only to Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North as the “most influential documentary of all time” and named Ken Burns and Robert Flaherty as the “most influential documentary makers” of all time.

Learn more about Ken Burns.

Novick began her long collaboration with Ken Burns in l989. She first served as associate producer for post production on the landmark The Civil War series, then spent four and a half years as producer (along with Burns) of the nine-part, 18½-hour series, Baseball, the most-watched series in the history of public television, and for which she won an Emmy Award.

Learn more about Lynn Novick.