ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050106
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns says his latest project, a biography of Thomas Jefferson that was shot largely in Virginia, is sort of a prequel to his ``Civil War'' series.
Long before that series first aired on public television in 1990, he had desired to do a piece on Jefferson, Burns said Tuesday in Colonial Williamsburg.
The contradictions in Jefferson's life - about race, the role of government and freedom - helped create the ``fault lines'' of the country that brought on the Civil War, Burns said.
Jefferson's writings and philosophies continue to shape this country today, he said.
``As a filmmaker, I cannot help but be drawn to Thomas Jefferson,'' he said. ``He is the center of our national life. He is without a doubt the man of the millennium.''
Virginia tourism officials hope the film ``Thomas Jefferson'' will do what ``The Civil War'' did: inspire people to come to Virginia to relive a bit of history.
``It's difficult to travel anywhere in Virginia and not experience Jefferson's remarkable legacy,'' said Robert Wilburn, president and chairman of Colonial Williamsburg.
Nine sites with a connection to Jefferson have joined together for a travel program to coincide with the film's debut on public television. The three-hour film will air in two parts, Feb. 18 and19.
Tourists can buy a single-price passport that gets them into five sites that charge admission and also gives them information about four other sites that are free.
The passport costs $57 for adults and $25 for children. It will be valid Feb. 18 through April 1998.
The film is sponsored in part by the Virginia Tourism Corp., which donated $350,000 toward production costs, spokeswoman Martha Steger said. The government agency also is spending $250,000 to promote the travel program.
Tourism officials do not have an estimate of how many people may come to Virginia because of the Jefferson film, Steger said. But after ``The Civil War'' first aired, the number of visitors to certain historic sites in Virginia, such as battlefields, increased 50 percent, she said.
Burns said the task of putting Jefferson's life on film was difficult because Jefferson lived in a time before cameras. Unable to use photographs from the time period, as he did in ``The Civil War,'' Burns had to rely instead on drawings, paintings and letters.
He also shot extensive footage of Monticello, Jefferson's home, and in Colonial Williamsburg, where Jefferson served as an elected member of the House of Burgesses.
Burns said he also tried to examine some of the contradictions in Jefferson's life, such as the fact that the man who wrote ``all men are created equal'' was a slaveowner.
``Jefferson talked the talk. He didn't always walk the walk,'' Burns said. ``It's important we ask why.''
For information about the passport program, call (888)293-1776.
THE SITES
The nine Jefferson-related sites that are part of the ``Jefferson's Virginia'' travel program:
* Barboursville Vineyards and Ruins, the ruins of a mansion Jefferson designed for his friend, Gov. James Barbour, near Charlottesville.
* The College of William and Mary, Jefferson's alma mater, in Williamsburg.
* Colonial Williamsburg, where Jefferson was an elected member of the House of Burgesses and introduced the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.
* Monticello, the mountaintop home Jefferson designed for himself, near Charlottesville.
* Natural Bridge, a rock bridge Jefferson bought in 1774 to ensure its availability to the public, near Lexington.
* The State Capitol, designed by Jefferson in 1785, in Richmond.
* Poplar Forest, Jefferson's retreat home he designed in 1806, near Lynchburg.
* Tuckahoe Plantation, Jefferson's boyhood home, near Richmond.
* University of Virginia, founded by Jefferson in 1819, in Charlottesville.
- Associated Press
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