PBS to Air WOODSTOCK: THREE DAYS THAT DEFINED A GENERATION

In August 1969, half a million young people from all walks of life journeyed from every corner of the country to a dairy farm in upstate New York for a concert unprecedented in scope and influence. Woodstock examines the tumultuous decade that led to those three historic days - years that saw the nation deeply divided by Vietnam and racial, generational and sexual politics - through the voices of those who were present for the event that would become the defining moment of the counterculture revolution. In conjunction with the 50th anniversary, Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation, directed by Barak Goodman, written by Goodman and Don Kleszy, and produced by Goodman and Jamila Ephron, premieres Tuesday, August 6, 2019, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS, pbs.org and the PBS Video App.

"For three days in August, 1969, the values of 'peace and love,' loudly championed by the counterculture movement, were actually put to the test in the miserable conditions at Woodstock," said director Barak Goodman. "The more than 400,000 people who attended the festival proved that they were more than just words. For a surprising number of people, that brief encounter with sacrifice, cooperation and generosity changed their lives. I think Woodstock continues to inspire because the grace demonstrated there was real and enduring."

"Unlike Michael Wadleigh's classic 1970 documentary, our film turns the cameras around, into the audience," said AMERICAN EXPERIENCE executive producer Mark Samels. "By focusing on individuals - from concertgoers to security guards to performers to local residents - Woodstock expands our understanding of the event as not only an unparalleled musical milestone, but a once-in-a-century cultural phenomena that served as a coda to THE SIXTIES and a harbinger of the decades to come."

Interviewees include festival producers and staff including Donald Goldmacher, Carol Green, Michael Lang, John Morris, John Roberts and Joel Rosenman; activist Wavy Gravy; festival attendees and others.

For 30 years, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE has been television's most-watched history series. Hailed as "peerless"(The Wall Street Journal), "the most consistently enriching program on television" (Chicago Tribune) and "a beacon of intelligence and purpose" (Houston Chronicle), the series brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that have shaped America's past and present. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE documentaries have been honored with every major broadcast award, including 30 Emmy Awards, four duPont-Columbia Awards and 17 George Foster Peabody Awards; the series received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Documentary Feature in 2015 for Last Days in Vietnam. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE also creates original digital content that uses new forms of storytelling to connect our collective past with the present. Visit pbs.org/americanexperienceand follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube to learn more.

Major funding for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance, Consumer Cellular and by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Additional funding for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE provided by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, The Documentary Investment Group: The Estate of Gwenn Therrien, in memory of Gwenn Therrien and Michael Blake, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is produced for PBS by WGBH Boston.

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