Airs: Mondays, 9pm (check local listings)
Network: PBS
What To Expect: This fall, the series’ 24th season kicks off with new episodes. “Cachao: Uno Mas” (September 20) looks at Grammy-winning bassist Israel “Cachao” Lopez, considered one of the greatest Afro-Cuban musicians of all time and who, with his brother Orestes, literally invented the mambo. Actor Andy Garcia, who helped reinvigorate Cachao’s career in the 1990s, produces and narrates the film.
“A Letter to Elia” airs October 4, and is is a documentary about filmmaker Elia Kazan, directed by Martin Scorsese. It’s a personal and poignant meditation on the creative impulse, composed of minimal elements: Scorsese on camera and off; snippets of Kazan interviews; readings from his writings; photos, posters, films clips, music and more. As biography, the film features Kazan’s life, his sense of himself as an immigrant and an outsider. As autobiography, the film shows Scorsese’s early experiences seeing Kazan’s films for the first time, and being forever influenced.
“LENNONYC” (November 22). This film, with a prologue narrated by Yoko Ono, profiles John Lennon and Ono’s years in New York City — their migration from London to New York in search of artistic and personal freedom; their family life with son Sean; their commitment to peace and political activism; their struggles to remain in America; and Lennon’s music from that period.
On December 27, “Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould” explores the man, the magic and the message behind the music of this iconic but intensely private musician.
Official American Masters Site
Where We Left Off: Another outstanding season of the pioneering biography series featured compelling looks at Garrison Keillor, Neil Young, the influence of Chinese immigrants on American film, Philip Glass, and Annie Leibovitz.
What To Expect: This fall, the series' 23rd season kicks off with three new episodes. "Trumbo" (September 2) profiles Hollywood writer Dalton Trumbo, who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 and was imprisoned. The show is adapted from his son Christopher's 2003 play, and based on Trumbo's own letters written during the tragedy of America's "Red Scare."
"Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound" airs October 14, and is the first comprehensive documentary to chronicle the private life and public career of Baez, examining her history as a recording artist and performer, as well as her unwavering journey as the conscience of a generation.
"Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women" premieres December 28. It shows how the famed author was a free thinker with progressive values about women, and the author of pseudonymous 19th-century potboilers.
What To Expect: This fall, the series' 24th season kicks off with new episodes. "Cachao: Uno Mas" (September 20) looks at Grammy-winning bassist Israel “Cachao” Lopez, considered one of the greatest Afro-Cuban musicians of all time and who, with his brother Orestes, literally invented the mambo. Actor Andy Garcia, who helped reinvigorate Cachao’s career in the 1990s, produces and narrates the film.
"A Letter to Elia" airs October 4, and is is a documentary about filmmaker Elia Kazan, directed by Martin Scorsese. It's a personal and poignant meditation on the creative impulse, composed of minimal elements: Scorsese on camera and off; snippets of Kazan interviews; readings from his writings; photos, posters, films clips, music and more. As biography, the film features Kazan's life, his sense of himself as an immigrant and an outsider. As autobiography, the film shows Scorsese's early experiences seeing Kazan's films for the first time, and being forever influenced.
"LENNONYC" (November 22). This film, with a prologue narrated by Yoko Ono, profiles John Lennon and Ono's years in New York City -- their migration from London to New York in search of artistic and personal freedom; their family life with son Sean; their commitment to peace and political activism; their struggles to remain in America; and Lennon's music from that period.
On December 27, "Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould" explores the man, the magic and the message behind the music of this iconic but intensely private musician.
