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‘Hemingway’: Air time, how to live stream, plot and all you need to know about PBS documentary on Ernest Hemingway

The documentary sheds light on the lesser known aspects of Hemingway's life, including his struggles as a writer, mental illness and relationship with many women

PBS’ documentary film on “Papa” of American fiction is set to peel layers of the renowned author’s persona. Created by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, the film is believed to explore Henminway’s endless “contradictions”. ‘Hemingway’ is said to be powered by archives from John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. If you’re planning on watching it, here’s everything you need to know about the documentary film ahead of its premiere. 

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Release date and air time

‘Hemingway’ will premiere for three consecutive nights starting April 5 on PBS. It is a three-part, six-hour documentary that’ll air at 8/7c from Monday to Wednesday. 

What to expect?

According to PBS’ official synopsis of ‘Hemingway’, the docu-film “examines the visionary work and the turbulent life of Ernest Hemingway, one of the greatest and most influential writers America has ever produced. Interweaving his eventful biography — a life lived at the ultimately treacherous nexus of art, fame, and celebrity — with carefully selected excerpts from his iconic short stories, novels, and non-fiction, the series reveals the brilliant, ambitious, charismatic, and complicated man behind the myth, and the art he created.”

Meanwhile, talking about what the film has to offer, the creator Novick said, “We hope this film opens up opportunities to look at Hemingway in different ways. There is a complexity beneath the surface.”

Creators 

‘Hemingway’ is created by long-time collaborators Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. The duo is known for creating ‘The Vietnam War’, an 18-hour documentary series.  Asked “ What parts of the Hemingway mythos” he was most interesting in deconstructing, Burns responded, “For us, it’s basic: We say yes [to the project], and that means yes to marrying Ernest Hemingway for many years in all the complexity, all the contradictions, all the horrible stuff and all the wonderful stuff. Along the way, as we began to accumulate a working sense of the biography, we saw the poisonous, toxic nature of Hemingway’s self-created myth.”

Adding to that Novick said, “[Hemingway’s] masculinity must have been so constricting.” It stayed with us because I don’t think I ever really thought about that as a constricting problem. But in many ways he was imprisoned by this macho persona — a hypermasculine persona that, at the time, was seen as a positive thing.”

Trailer 

The official trailer for ‘Hemingway’ hasn’t been released. The preview shows Burns and Novik shed light on the less-explored or known aspect of his life, including his struggles as a writer, mental illness and relationship with many women who were a significant part of his life.