American Masters - Season 29
Season 29
Episodes
Ricky Jay: Deceptive Practice
This portrait of the inimitable magician Ricky Jay delves into the mysterious world of sleight-of-hand and its small circle of eccentric devotees. Jay is also a best-selling author, historian, actor and a leading collector of antiquarian books and artifacts. Told largely in Jay's own distinctive voice, the documentary traces the story of his achievement and that of other master magicians.
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Unprecedented access to Wilson's theatrical archives, rarely seen interviews and new dramatic readings bring to life his seminal 10-play cycle chronicling a century of African-American life.
Jascha Heifetz: God's Fiddler
Discover the story of legendary musician Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987), the first truly modern violin virtuoso. This documentary portrays an artist for whom only perfection would do through vintage performances, master classes and Heifetz' previously unseen home movies. Interviewees include Itzhak Perlman, Ivry Gitlis and Ida Haendel, and former student, accompanist and longtime companion Ayke Agus.
American Ballet Theatre: A History
Ric Burns' film on the 75-year history of the preeminent ballet company combines rehearsal footage, virtuoso performances and interviews with ABT's key figures including Alicia Alonso and the late Donald Saddler and Frederic Franklin; Susan Jaffe and Julie Kent, Misty Copeland, Gillian Murphy, Marcelo Gomez, choreographer Alexei Ratmansky and Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.
Althea
This is the story of Althea Gibson (1927-2003), a truant from the rough streets of Harlem, who emerged as the unlikely queen of the highly segregated tennis world in the 1950s. She was the first African American to play and win at Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals (precursor of the U.S. Open) — a decade before Arthur Ashe. Interviewees include Wimbledon champion Dick Savitt and Billie Jean King.
Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer's Journey
An exclusive interview with Mexican-American photographer Pedro E. Guerrero explores his life and work. He collaborated with iconic American artists of the 20th century -- architect Frank Lloyd Wright and sculptors Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson -- and became one of the most sought-after photographers of the "Mad Men" era. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting's VOCES series.
The Women's List
Meet 15 women who define contemporary American culture in Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' new "List" film featuring Madeleine Albright, Margaret Cho, Edie Falco, Betsey Johnson, Alicia Keys, Nancy Pelosi, Rosie Perez, Wendy Williams and more. All trailblazers in their fields, these women share their experiences struggling against discrimination and overcoming challenges to make their voices heard.
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The Gilded Age
The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, of huge fortunes made and lost, and the rise of disparity between old money and new.
Against this backdrop of change, the story begins in 1882 — introducing young Marian Brook, the orphaned daughter of a Union general, who moves into the New York City home of her thoroughly old money aunts Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook. Accompanied by Peggy Scott, an accomplished African-American woman, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts, a scion of the old money set, and her stupendously rich neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George and Bertha Russell.
In this exciting new world that is on the brink of the modern age, will Marian follow the established rules of society, or forge her own path?
Alien: Earth
When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat. As members of the crash recovery crew search for survivors among the wreckage of a mysterious crashed space vessel, they encounter mysterious predatory life forms more terrifying than they could have ever imagined. With this new threat unlocked, the search crew must fight for survival and what they choose to do with this discovery could change planet Earth as they know it.
The Crow Girl
The Crow Girl begins with the gruesome discovery of a teenage boy's body discarded in plain sight. Determined to find who is responsible, DCI Jeanette Kilburn joins forces with psychotherapist Sophia Craven to hunt the killer despite opposition from her superiors including confidant DI Lou Stanley.
The investigation takes them into a dangerous world of historic abuse and murder. Together they uncover a chain of shocking events involving the disappearance of children that have gone overlooked for decades, as well as evidence of police corruption. As the body count rises and the two women are dragged into the depths of the murders, an intimacy starts to form between them, and so begins a complex, twisted love story. All the while, the killer is inching ever closer to home.
Big Brother
Big Brother follows a group of people living together in a house outfitted with dozens of high-definition cameras and microphones recording their every move, 24 hours a day. Each week, the Houseguests will vote someone out of the house. At the end, the last remaining Houseguest will receive the grand prize of $500,000.