American Experience Films

The Super Outbreak of 1974 was the most intense tornado outbreak on record, tearing a vicious path of destruction across thirteen states, generating 148 tornadoes from Alabama to Ontario, damaging thousands of homes, and killing more than 300 people. Meteorologist Tetsuya Theodore "Ted" Fujita spent ten months studying the outbreak's aftermath in the most extensive aerial tornado study ever conducted, and through detailed mapping and leaps of scientific...

L. Frank Baum was 44 when he published the first book about Oz, having spent most of his life reinventing himself with each new career in pursuit of the American Dream. When in Chicago, his observations of an uncertain nation during the Gilded Age informed his magical tale of survival, adventure, and self-discovery which went on to become a quintessential classic.

On an August morning in 1960, Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger stepped out of a helium balloon twenty miles above Earth, hurtling down at over 400 miles per hour. The little-known story of the men whose scientific experiments laid critical groundwork for NASA's manned space program, a decade before President Kennedy committed the nation to sending a man to the moon.

Explores the insular religious community, whose intense faith and adherence to 400-year-old traditions have by turns captivated and baffled Americans for more than a century. The film examines the beliefs, lifestyle, and history of the Amish, as well as their complex relationship to mainstream American culture. The Amish is part history, part observational documentary that takes viewers into the world of the Amish.

Discover the real story behind the most famous family conflict in American history - the bloody backwoods battle between Appalachian clans, the Hatfields and McCoys. This new film goes beyond the myth to show how the feud was ignited.

A documentary on the construction of the Coulee Dam, the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world when it was completed in 1941, discussing both its positive and negative effects, and focusing on its impact upon the lives and culture of Native Americans.

In the late 19th century, as America's teeming cities grew increasingly congested, the time had come to replace the nostalgic horse-drawn trolleys with a faster, cleaner, safer, and more efficient form of transportation. Ultimately, it was Boston, a city of so many firsts that overcame a litany of engineering challenges, the greed-driven interests of businessmen, and the great fears of its citizenry to construct America's first subway.

Walt Disney was uniquely adept at art as well as commerce, a master filmmaker who harnessed the power of technology and storytelling. This new film examines Disney's complex life and enduring legacy. Features rare archival footage from the Disney vaults, scenes from some of his greatest films, interviews with biographers and animators, and the designers who helped turn his dream of Disneyland into reality.

"Radicals. Agitators. Troublemakers. Liberators. Called many names, the abolitionists tore the nation apart in order to create a more perfect union. Men and women, black and white, Northerners and Southerners, poor and wealthy, these passionate anti-slavery activists fought body and soul in the most important civil rights crusade in American history"--Container.

Chronicles the rise of Henry Ford from machinist and engineer to powerful industrialist. Examines his development of an automobile affordable to the masses and his institution of the five-dollar-a-day wage. Explores his disapproval of organized labor and his antagonistic relationship with his son.