As Donald Trump goes after Harvard, one of the university’s most famous alums is back in the limelight with a new documentary. Henry David Thoreau, which premieres March 30 on PBS, celebrates America’s apostle of environmentalism, antiwar activism, abolitionism, indigenous rights, and more, whose writings on civil disobedience influenced Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Ewers Brothers Productions’ three-part nonfiction biopic explores how Thoreau, who returned to nature at Walden Pond from 1845 to 1847, interrupted by a fateful night in prison, perpetuated and contributed to the highest aspirations of the American Revolution.
Executive produced by Ken Burns and the Eagles’ Don Henley, Henry David Thoreau was codirected by longtime Burns collaborators brothers Christopher Loren Ewers and Emmy Award winner Erik Ewers. The cast who give voice to the film’s historical figures includes Jeff Goldblum, Meryl Streep, and Ted Danson, with George Clooney narrating. Erik was interviewed via Zoom in Keene, New Hampshire, and Christopher Loren in Connecticut.
Auteur: Erik Ewers
