Mystic Seaport Presents Premiere of New Ric Burns Whaling Documentary

Documentary partially filmed at Mystic Seaport; Premiere to be hosted at Connecticut College

Mystic Seaport will present Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World, a new documentary by Ric Burns, at its local premiere at Palmer Auditorium at Connecticut College Sunday, May 2, from 4 - 6:30 p.m.

Admission to the premiere is free.

Burns, the award-winning documentary filmmaker and writer, will introduce the film and then participate in a question and answer panel after its screening.

The documentary, produced by Steeplechase Films Inc., is scheduled for its television debut on WGBH/PBS’s flagship history series American Experience Monday, May 10, at 9 p.m.

Into the Deep details three centuries of American whaling and the unique relationship between whalemen and the creatures they hunted. At the height of the whaling industry in the 1800s, American whaleships circled the globe searching for the mammals that produced the precious oil that lit the world and in large part fueled the Industrial Revolution. The documentary also explores two key events in whaling history: the horrific fate of the whaleship Essex that was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale and the eventual survival of eight of the vessel’s crewmen; and the course of events that led Herman Melville to write what can arguably be called the greatest American novel of all time, Moby-Dick.

“The epic story of whaling is intimately bound up with the story of America, in strange and telling ways: as a riveting case study in maritime culture at its most extreme – as a dark and shining parable of American capitalism on the rise – and as an allegory for the American, and the human experience – long before a restless sometime whaleman and would-be writer named Herman Melville ever went to sea,” said Burns.

The documentary was partially filmed at Mystic Seaport in September 2007 aboard the world’s last surviving wooden whaleship, the Charles W. Morgan, before the vessel was hauled out in the Museum’s Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard for her current on-going restoration.

“We’re thrilled to be involved with Ric Burns’ new documentary,” said Mystic Seaport President Steve White. “His film accurately depicts a pivotal era in American maritime history, an era that is necessary to remember when understanding our nation’s ever-evolving relationship with the sea. Mystic Seaport is grateful to WGBH, PBS and Steeplechase Films for the exciting privilege of presenting this premiere.”

Filming of the documentary continued into September 2009 when several Mystic Seaport staff members and volunteers traveled to Erie, PA, along with two whaleboats, sailing rigs and whaling gear. Museum staff assisted Burns and his film crew with set dressing, helping to transform Erie’s flagship Niagara into the whaleship Essex, complete with davits, hoops and tryworks. Staff additionally appeared on-screen during a day of filming on the vessel and in whaleboats. Mystic Seaport staff member and Melville historian Mary K. Bercaw Edwards, along with Museum staffer and Charles W. Morgan historian Matthew Stackpole, both served as consultants during the film’s production process.

While admission to the screening is free, donations for the Morgan restoration project will kindly be accepted.

For more information, visit www.mysticseaport.org/intothedeep.

Founded in 1929, Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. The Museum is home to four National Landmark Historic vessels, including the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship afloat in the world. The Museum is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.