At the centre of the painting Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, cut off from his men, awaits the fatal blow from a British bayonet. General George Washington, in the background, charges onto the battlefield to rally the troops.
Sag Harbor Cinema will host free, weekly screenings of The American Revolution, a new documentary by renowned filmmakers Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt. Each of the six episodes will be shown sequentially on Sundays, starting February 1, 2026. The screenings will be held in collaboration with the Sag Harbor Historical Museum and will be free to the public.
Created for PBS, and nearly a decade in the works, The American Revolution traces the ideals of freedom and democracy that led to the founding of the United States, in all its complexities and contradictions. The filmmakers use a rich, dynamic mix of period art, animated maps, dramatic reconstructions, voice-over narratives and drone shots to explore in dramatic, engrossing detail the nation’s early history and to suggest how the founders’ aspirations – met and unmet – continue to shape America.
Peter Coyote provides the main narration. Among the other actors whose voices are featured in the project are: Kenneth Branagh, Hugh Dancy, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Morgan Freeman, Paul Giamatti, Tom Hanks, Ethan Hawke, Maya Hawke, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Tracy Letts, Laura Linney, David Oyelowo, Mandy Patinkin, Liev Schreiber and Meryl Streep.
Photo credit: Stephanie Berger
Sag Harbor Cinema is grateful to Ken Burns and PBS for the opportunity to share this riveting, thought-provoking work in their theatre. Further details about co-director Sarah Botstein’s appearance for a post-screening Q&A will be announced soon.
The screening of The American Revolution will be the first of a series of programs organized by the Cinema leading to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026.
Burns’s previous works include Oscar-nominated features Brooklyn Bridge (1982) and The Statue of Liberty (1985), and series The Civil War (1990), Emmy Award-winning Baseball (1994), Jazz (2001), The War (2007), Emmy Award-winning The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (2009), Prohibition (2011), The Roosevelts (2014), The Vietnam War (2017), and Country Music (2019).
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