Ken Burns on Storytelling and Truth

Ken Burns, creator of innumerable documentaries including The Civil War and Baseball, is the subject of a new short film about the nature of stories and storytelling. It's compelling, smart, and complex -- largely because Burns, one of America's most famous and revered documentarians, discusses the reality of what documentary films are: that documentary is not about telling "the truth," it's about telling a story. (If you will, "a truth.")

Representative quote: "All story is manipulation." Also: "There are many, many different kinds of truths."

You might also enjoy this interview with the filmmakers, Sarah Klein and Tom Mason.