Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s New Documentary "Prohibition"

Tucson, Ariz. – September 9, 2011 - Prohibition, a new three-part, six-hour documentary series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, will air October 2, 3 and 4, 2011, from 8-10 p.m. on PBS-HD Channel 6. Set in the era of bathtub gin, bootleggers and speakeasies, the series tells the true story of the rise, rule and fall of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It was called the “Noble Experiment,” but it was in fact one of America’s most notorious civic failures, an object lesson in the challenge of legislating human behavior.

Did you know that Arizona voters in 1914 elected to ban alcohol sales and consumption, enacting a prohibition that went into effect on Jan. 1, 1915, five years before the national ban began? Arizona had been among the first states to ratify the Constitutional amendment that created the “Noble Experiment” in 1920. Approved by a narrow margin, the amendment to the Arizona Constitution may have prohibited alcohol in Arizona on paper, but it promoted lively disagreements, legal and otherwise, for years to come. Among the first to vehemently oppose the ban were the Catholic Church in Tucson (because the ban would include altar wine) and The University of Arizona (because alcohol is a valuable scientific ingredient).

PBS-HD Channel 6 and NPR 90.5FM/1550AM will augment the PBS national special, Prohibition, with special local mini-documentary, The Dry Run: Prohibition in Arizona, produced by AZPM’s Tom Kleespie, Senior Producer for Special Projects at Arizona Public Media (The Desert Speaks, Unforgettable: The Korean War). The Dry Run: Prohibition in Arizona will air on September 29th at 6:30 p.m. on Arizona Illustrated and also be featured on Arizona Spotlight prior to the October 2nd premiere of Prohibition. The Dry Run: Prohibition in Arizona includes interviews with Katherine Morrisey, UA Associate Professor of History; Brad Beltzer, Historian and Ed Sipos, author of Brewing Arizona.

The film Prohibition. begins with the story of America’s growing concern about alcohol abuse in the 19th century. In the face of a pervasive culture of men who devoted their time and money to saloons instead of their families, women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frances Willard and Carry Nation first demanded temperance, then outright prohibition. The hugely powerful Anti-Saloon League took up the mantle in the late 19th century, setting its sights on a constitutional amendment banning the sale and manufacture of alcohol. The 18th Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919, and went into effect one year later.

For the next 13 years, America would be split by a fierce cultural divide between “wets” and “drys,” as Prohibition pitted the city against the countryside, Protestants against Catholics and immigrants against native-born citizens. Prohibition turned law-abiding citizens into criminals, made a mockery of the justice system, allowed illicit drinking to seem glamorous, encouraged neighborhood gangs to form national crime syndicates, permitted government officials to bend and sometimes even break the law, and fostered cynicism and hypocrisy that corroded the social contract all across the country. The film raises vital questions that are as relevant today as they were 100 years ago — about means and ends, individual rights and responsibilities and the proper role of government.

A preview website for Prohibition is available at pbs.org/prohibition and includes video clips, opportunities for users to share stories, background information on the film and filmmakers and information on engagement activities. The full Prohibition companion site with additional content will launch in September 2011 and will include educational outreach materials and lesson plans which will enable teachers to use Prohibition as a historical lens to explore the role of dissent and protest in America and the role of civic engagement in society. Full episodes will stream on the site for seven days after broadcast and clips from the film will be available on PBS’ free apps for iPad and iPhone. Fans can follow Ken Burns on Twitter @KenBurnsPBS or on Facebook at Facebook.com/KenBurnsPBS.

Prohibition will be available on DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Home Video: ShopPBS.org or 800-PLAY-PBS, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Corporate funding for Prohibition is provided by Bank of America. Additional funding is provided by Corporation for Public Broadcasting; National Endowment for the Humanities; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; Park Foundation, Inc.; The Montrone Family through The Penates Foundation; Public Television Viewers; and PBS.

Prohibition is a production of Florentine Films and WETA Washington, DC. Directors: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Writer: Geoffrey C. Ward. Producers: Sarah Botstein, Lynn Novick and Ken Burns. Editors: Tricia Reidy, Erik Ewers and Ryan Gifford. Cinematography: Buddy Squires. Narrator: Peter Coyote.

For more information and photos, go to pbs.org/pressroom.