Ken Burns American Journeys
America’s Best Idea
Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan share behind-the-scenes insights into the creation of their award-winning documentary film, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. As Dayton observes: “When Ken and I set out to make The National Parks: America’s Best Idea for PBS, we were not interested in making a travelogue or a nature film. We wanted to tell the story of an idea – a uniquely American idea – that a nation’s most special and sacred sites should be set aside, not for royalty or the rich alone, but for everyone and for all time.” The concept of land preserved as national parks “for everyone, for all time,” is described as “the Declaration of Independence applied to the landscape” – places that offer refuge, spiritual renewal and insight into ourselves.