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Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, is an almost universally recognized name.  Her reputation as a morally upstanding New England spinster, reflecting the conventional propriety of mid-19th century Concord, is firmly established.  Raised among reformers, iconoclasts and Transcendentalists, the intellectual protégé of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, Alcott was actually a free thinker, with democratic ideals and progressive values about women – a worldly careerist of sorts.  Most surprising is that Alcott led, anonymously and under the pseudonym A.M. Barnard, a literary double life not discovered until the 1940s.  As Barnard, Alcott penned some thirty pulp fiction thrillers, with characters running the gamut from murderers and revolutionaries to cross-dressers and opium addicts – a far cry from her better-known works featuring fatherly mentors, courageous mothers and impish children.

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Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind ‘Little Women’ is the recipient of numerous awards and film festival selections, including:

AWARDS

Booklist’s Editors’ Choice: Best Video of 2009
CINE GOLD EAGLE 2008
Grand Award: Providence Film Festival
Audience Choice Award: Cape Cod Filmmaker Takeover
Best Feature Documentary: L.A. Reel Women Int’l Film Festival
Best Family Feature: Garden State Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION

Rhode Island International Film Festival
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Guangzhou Documentary Film Festival
Santa Fe Film Festival
Through Women’s Eyes Film Festival

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What came out of all this is a remarkably detailed portrait of a strong-minded woman who was far ahead of her time and far more complex than the portrait of the dainty lady that others have previously presented. Elizabeth Marvel gives a remarkably insightful performance as Louisa May, full of humor, passion, emotion and progressive thinking that makes her come alive.

– The Providence Journal

As much as I’ve enjoyed the American Masters series and its biographies of actors, artists, writers, and musicians, the talking heads and archival material can feel like a straitjacket for filmmakers . . . and audiences. Even the Ken Burns effect — slowly panning or zooming in or out of a photograph — can get old during the course of a feature-length film. Most recreations have failed because they’re sparingly done, poorly cast and directed, or so clumsy that they just seem cheesy. But Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind ‘Little Women’ gives us liberal, well-conceived dramatizations throughout, making them as dominant as those talking heads that are also featured. What’s more, there’s none of the usual take-yourself-too-seriously austere narration that so often accompanies literary biographies. Louisa May Alcott and her family are brought to life with dignity, but also humor. All of the dialogue that’s used comes from journals and letters, and that lends an authenticity and unabashed forthrightness that’s uncommon in films like this.

– DVDTOWN.com

Features rare performance footage and candid interviews with David Crosby, Bob Dylan, ex-husband David Harris, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Roger McGuinn, and more

Joan Baez made her debut appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959. Fifty years later she returned to that same Rhode Island stage on August 2, marking her and the festival’s 50th anniversaries. She is presently on a worldwide tour in celebration of her 50 years as a performer and in support of her Grammy-nominated CD, Day After Tomorrow.

In the first comprehensive documentary to chronicle the private life and public career of Joan Baez, American Masters examines her history as a recording artist and performer as well as her remarkable journey as the conscience of a generation in Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound, premiering nationally Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). The film coincides with the DVD/CD release on October 13th on Razor & Tie. This DVD/CD will feature the film with bonus content and an audio CD of music from the film. The audio CD contains rare live performances and studio recordings that span her career.

“From an early age, Joan Baez had the courage of her convictions,” says Susan Lacy, series creator and executive producer of American Masters, a six-time winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime Non-Fiction Series. “Her artistry and her commitment to human rights make her a musical and political force as relevant today as when she first started.”

Following Baez on her 2008/2009 world tour, the filmmakers captured Baez in performance as well as in intimate conversations with individuals whose lives parallel hers. From a stop in Sarajevo, Bosnia to revisit the scene of Joan’s courageous trip to that war-torn city in the middle of the 1993 siege, to Nashville, Tennessee, where she joined Steve Earle to talk about their collaboration on Joan’s 2008 Grammy-nominated album Day After Tomorrow, the film allows viewers an unprecedented level of access to Ms. Baez.

Shot in high definition with a natural, filmic look, Joan is also joined on screen by, David Crosby, Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn and Reverend Jesse Jackson, among others, to illuminate this extraordinary life. Rich historical archival footage – Baez’ controversial visit to North Vietnam, where she is seen praying with the residents of Hanoi during the heaviest bombing of the war; Martin Luther King Jr. outside a California prison where he visited Joan to offer his support after she was jailed for staging a protest; Joan at her first Newport Folk Festival in 1959 and Joan as a teenager performing at the historic Club 47 – is woven into the story so viewers can experience scenes from Joan’s life that have never been uncovered.

The grit of the film is Baez’ power as a musician – from her tentative teenage years in the Cambridge, Mass coffee houses to her emergence onto the world stage and the 50-year career that followed – Joan Baez is a musical force of nature and this film captures her strength as a performer and the influence she has brought to bear on successive generations of artists.

Related: watch Joan Baez perform her rendition of Pete Seeger’s classic “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” for the crowd at Pete Seeger’s 90th Birthday Celebration at Madison Square Garden, presented by GREAT PERFORMANCES.

Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound is a co-production Razor & Tie Entertainment and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG. The film is produced by Mark Spector and Mary Wharton and directed by Wharton. Susan Lacy is the series creator and executive producer of American Masters.

American Masters is produced for PBS by THIRTEEN. To take American Masters beyond the television broadcast and further explore the themes, stories, and personalities of masters past and present, the companion Web site (pbs.org/americanmasters) offers interviews, essays, photographs, outtakes, and other resources. American Masters is made possible by the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding for American Masters is provided by Rosalind P. Walter, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Jack Rudin, Rolf and Elizabeth Rosenthal, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, and public television viewers. Additional funding for Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound is provided by The Michael & Helen Schaffer Foundation.

Airs Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 8pm EST on PBS

Adapted from his son Christopher’s 2003 play and based on the remarkable letters Dalton Trumbo wrote during the devastation wrought by the ‘Red Scare’ in mid-20th century. With credits for Kitty Foyle and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo to his name – and the anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun – the young Trumbo was one of the highest paid Hollywood writers. Refusing to testify before HUAC in ‘47, he was part of the group known as the Hollywood Ten – convicted for contempt, he spent 11 months in federal prison and lost all right to ply his craft. Writing 30 scripts under pseudonyms – he won an Oscar in ’56 for The Brave One as Robert Rich – he was not recognized publicly again until 1960, when Otto Preminger credited him on Exodus and Kirk Douglas did so on Spartacus – actions considered to mark the end of the blacklist. As late as 1993, Trumbo was awarded a posthumous Acadamy Award for Roman Holiday (’53.)

Through the course of a year, an intimate lens captures Keillor on- and off- stage as he mingles fact and fiction to create America’s collective hometown, Lake Wobegon, on a radio program that carries bona-fide nostalgia. The result is a fascinating inside look at the enigmatic raconteur and how the imaginary world he created became a real place in America.

“Keillor is an American institution,” says Susan Lacy, creator and executive producer of American Masters, a six-time winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime Non-Fiction Series. “His stories of Lake Wobegon speak to our inherent patriotism and bring back memories of a simpler time.”

On A Prairie Home Companion, Keillor’s running commentary about the human condition has the uncanny ability to home in on the pulse of America. Inventing his own brand of quirky small town stories and everyday characters, mixed with a witty dose of social politics and philosophy, Keillor relates a deeply felt reflection of ourselves, somehow familiar to us all.

“His writing is never from an elevated space, so he connects with his audience,” said Peabody and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Rosen. “But the production value of his show is highly elevated, and the novelty for viewers of this film will be to see how the magic happens.”

An author with more than 20 books to his credit and a syndicated weekly column, Keillor is also a highly sought after speaker and lecturer. He is credited with reviving the virtually lost art of live radio entertainment in America; his weekly radio show, started in 1974, has more than 4 million listeners and is broadcast on 590 stations. Keillor and his characters leapt onto the big screen and an even wider global audience in Robert Altman’s 20o6 film, A Prairie Home Companion.

Keillor’s down-home commentary and love of heartland America, have made him into an “everyman philosopher.” His highly entertaining radio show is written with a poet’s heart. While comparisons will be made between him and America’s great humorists and essayist – from H. L. Mencken to Mark Twain, from James Thurber, Robert Frost and Will Rogers – Garrison Keillor is unique. In this untraditional biography, we begin to see how and why.

Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio In The Red Shoes is a co-production of Peter Rosen Productions, Inc., THIRTEEN’S American Masters for WNET.ORG and ITVS. The film is produced and directed by Peter Rosen and written by Sara Lukinson, based on the monologues of Garrison Keillor. Executive Producers are Susan Lacy and Sally Jo Fifer. Sally Jo Fifer is Executive Producer of ITVS. Susan Lacy is the creator and Executive Producer of American Masters.

American Masters is produced for PBS by THIRTEEN. To take American Masters beyond the television broadcast and further explore the themes, stories, and personalities of masters past and present, the companion Web site offers interviews, essays, photographs, outtakes, and other resources. American Masters is made possible by the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding for American Masters is provided by Rosalind P. Walter, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Jack Rudin, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, and public television viewers.

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Told in Young’s own words, the film weaves hours of exclusive interview, shot in New York and California, with previously unseen performance footage from the star’s own extensive collection. The documentary also features long-time collaborators Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Nils Lofgren and James Taylor.

“There’s no denying Neil Young as music’s most uncompromising rock royalty,” says Susan Lacy, creator and executive producer of American Masters, a six-time winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime Non-Fiction Series. “He’s an irreverent poet with a rock and roll heart. His music embodies the arc of American experience, challenges authoritative views, defies industry pigeon-holing and continues to have an impact on musicians and fans worldwide.”

Charting Young’s musical journey from his suburban Canadian childhood to his Hollywood superstardom, an intimate camera captures the critical benchmarks and personal pitfalls of the godfather of grunge. In the late 60s, he achieved early acclaim with the short-lived yet influential psychedelic garage band, Buffalo Springfield, which launched his solo career. During this creative streak, he founded Crazy Horse and collaborated with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Adding fuel to his already rising success, these bands also shot to meteoric fame. The intensity of mega-stardom, mixed with frequent bouts of artistic differences, led to Young’s departure from both groups. He later explained his anti-star status, “I didn’t spend 10 years in the 60s and 70s creating something so I could be a prisoner of it … You know if you’re trying to stay in the favor of the public, you’re a loser – you’ll never get there.”

In the 70s, Young wrote introspective songs on multi-platinum hallmark albums, After the Gold Rush (1970) and Harvest (1972). He became an emotional chronicler on the harrowing On the Beach (1974). With his signature falsetto and idiosyncratic guitar riffs, the crude collection of tracks reflected a bleak mood stemming from the Manson massacres and Nixon’s resignation during that decade. Following the drug casualties of his two confidants (Crazy Horse’s Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry), he gave the music’s answer to cinema vérité: Tonight’s the Night (1975), a spine-chilling wake for his dead friends. By the end of the 70s, he reached his peak of popularity with critics and fans favorite, Rust Never Sleeps (1979).

In the 80s, the rock veteran entered an experimental phase with hits and misses. Embracing the new waves of punk and electronica, Young teamed up with Devo on his art-house epic Human Highway (1982), a comedy film. Not one to stay static, he also released records exploring various genres including This Note’s for You (1988), a concept album criticizing the commercialism of the music industry. In the 90s, Young reunited with Crazy Horse and released the acclaimed album Ragged Glory (1990). Crazy Horse served as back-up band on Young’s solo release throughout the 90s. In 1995, Neil Young was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. More recently, Young promoted his Grammy-nominated, Iraq war protest album, Living with War (2006) on a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Freedom of Speech” tour. The film ends with Young still refusing to be denied, playing an anti-Bush anthem to a Republican audience in the South.

Neil Young: Don’t Be Denied is a production of the BBC. Ben Whalley is producer and director. Mark Cooper is the producer for the BBC. Susan Lacy is the creator and executive producer of American Masters.

American Masters is produced for PBS by THIRTEEN. To take American Masters beyond the television broadcast and further explore the themes, stories, and personalities of masters past and present, the companion Web site offers interviews, essays, photographs, outtakes, and other resources. American Masters is made possible by the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding for American Masters is provided by Rosalind P. Walter, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Jack Rudin, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, and public television viewers.