MOLINE, ILLINOIS (April 20, 2021) — WQPT, PBS for the Quad Cities region began airing Ken Burns’s new three-part, six-hour film Hemingway on Thursday, April 15. Parts two and three air on April 22 and 29 at 9PM. The film is directed by Ken Burns and longtime collaborator Lynn Novick, and it paints an intimate picture of Hemingway the writer — who captured on paper the complexities of the human condition in spare and profound prose, and whose work remains deeply influential around the world — while also penetrating the myth of Hemingway the man’s man to reveal a deeply troubled and ultimately tragic figure.
The film also explores Hemingway’s limitations and biases as an artist and a man of his time. The series is currently streaming on station-branded PBS platforms, including www.PBS.org and the PBS Video app.
In conjunction with the airing of the documentary, WQPT will be holding a special 30-minute virtual screening and discussion with Mary V Dearborn — a Hemingway biographer who was featured in the film.
The free virtual event will take place on Tuesday, April 27, 6:30PM, and attendees will have the opportunity to ask Ms Dearborn their Hemingway-related questions. Attendees will also have the opportunity to win copies of Dearborn’s Hemingway biography, a Google Home smart speaker, and other great prizes.
“Hemingway has this public image of being this extraordinarily masculine, kind of hypermasculine, macho guy, and that he had a huge following among men.” said director Lynn Novick. “We spent a lot of time and effort to try to understand his relationship with the women in his life: His mother, his sisters, his four wives, other women that mattered to him, others who broke his heart. We probably only scratched the surface, but the women we have interviewed, the women in his life, and hearing the voices of his wives who have a lot to say, it’s very interesting.”
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to connect an internationally-renowned Hemingway historian (featured in Ken Burns’s film) with our community,” said Michael Carton, Director of Education and Outreach. “I think Ms Dearborn understands Hemingway’s relationship with women almost better than anyone else, and it’ll be great to be able to ask her questions that the film wasn’t able to answer and get her answers.”
People can learn more about the film and register for the event by visiting www.wqpt.org/hemingway.
