Henry David Thoreau, a, three-part, three-hour film directed by Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren
Ewers, and executive produced by Ken Burns and Don Henley, examines the life and work of the 19th-century
writer in the context of antebellum New England and the larger United States, as well as through the
universal themes he focused on in his writings: an individual's relationship to the state, how to live an
authentic life, our connection to nature, and the impact of race on American life.
The writer of Walden has been flattened into a caricature, but Henry David Thoreau was
much more than a "prophetic hermit," the directors of the documentary say.
Henry David Thoreau, June 18, 1856, daguerreotype portrait by
Benjamin D. Maxham. Credit: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian InstitutionThoreau's Cove, Concord, Massachusetts, circa 1908. Credit:
Wikimedia Commons.Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond. Credit: Getty / iStock
A vintage postcard depicting Thoreau's hut at Walden Pond.
Credit: Public DomainDowntown Concord, Massachusetts, pictured circa 1860-1865.
The Parkman House, where the Thoreau family lived for a time, is the right-most visible house in the
background. Credit: Concord Free Public LibraryRalph Waldo Emerson, 1857. Credit: Concord Free Public
LibraryA flyer for an anti-slavery rally in Framingham,
Massachusetts, July 4, 1854. Credit: Massachusetts Historical Society, Bridgeman ImagesAn excerpt from Henry David Thoreau's journal, recorded at
Walden. Credit: The Morgan Library and Museum.A draft of Henry David Thoreau's essay, "Walking". Credit:
Concord Free Public LibraryA page from Henry David Thoreau's essay, "Civil
Disobedience," originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government," 1849.A still image from Henry David Thoreau, picturing Walden Pond
during winter. Credit: Ewers Brothers ProductionsA still image from Henry David Thoreau, picturing Walden
cabin in the snow. Credit: Ewers Brothers ProductionsA still image from Henry David Thoreau, picturing trees near
Walden Pond. Credit: Ewers Brothers ProductionsA behind-the-scenes image from Henry David Thoreau, filming
on Walden Pond. Credit: Ewers Brothers ProductionsA behind-the-scenes image from Henry David Thoreau, filming
at the replica of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond. Credit: Ewers Brothers ProductionsA behind-the-scenes image from Henry David Thoreau, with
cinematographer Christopher Loren Ewers behind the camera. Credit: Ewers Brothers Productions
George Clooney, narrator of Henry David Thoreau. Credit:
Ewers Brothers ProductionsJeff Goldblum, who voices Thoreau's writing in Henry David
Thoreau. Credit: Ewers Brothers Productions
