15 Mar 2021 Free virtual screening of ‘Hemingway’ to be held March 18

Posted at 2:41 PMh in News by

Arkansas PBS and partners, including the Division of Arkansas Heritage and A-State Heritage Sites, will present a free, virtual preview screening of “Hemingway,” an upcoming three-part, six-hour documentary series directed by award-winning filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 18. An expert panel discussion and Q&A will follow, focusing on Hemingway’s 13 years living in Northeast Arkansas. Registration for the event is required at myarpbs.org/hemingwayscreening.

Ernest Hemingway, the iconic literary figure considered one of the greatest American writers and among the first to live and work at the treacherous nexus of art and celebrity is the subject of the film, which will premiere on Arkansas PBS April 5-7.

Ernest and Pauline Pfeiffer on their wedding day in Paris, France, on May 10, 1927. Photo courtesy of Ernest Hemingway Collection, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, Mass.

Hemingway and his second wife Pauline Pfeiffer, whose family lived in Piggott, were prominent residents of Northeast Arkansas during their 13-year marriage. Hemingway penned part of “A Farewell to Arms” while staying at their Arkansas home. Hemingway’s time in Arkansas is mentioned in the first episode in context to he and Pauline moving to Piggott just before their son Patrick was born.

Panelists discussing Hemingway’s time in Arkansas following the screening will be:

  • Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Secretary Stacy Hurst.
  • Dr. Ruth Hawkins, director emeritus, A-State Heritage Sites. Dr. Hawkins was founding director of the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center in Piggott, opened in 1999 in conjunction with Hemingway’s 100th birthday. She is the author of “Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow: The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Marriage,” a biographical work that focuses on Hemingway’s relationship with the Pfeiffer family.
  • Dr. Adam Long, director, A-State Heritage Sites, which include the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center in Piggott.
  • Dr. Alex Vernon, M.E. and Ima Graves Peace Distinguished Professors of English at Hendrix College. His several books include “Soldiers Once and Still: Ernest Hemingway, James Salter, and Tim O’Brien,” “Hemingway’s Second War: Bearing Witness to the Spanish Civil War” and “Teaching Hemingway and War.” He has been an active member of the international Ernest Hemingway Society leadership since 2013.

More information about Hemingway’s time in Arkansas, including a virtual tour of the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum produced in partnership with the Division of Arkansas Heritage, archival content and little-known anecdotes, and a blog series is available at myarpbs.org/hemingway.

Arkansas State University operates the restored Pfeiffer home and Hemingway Barn-Studio as one of its four Heritage Sites. The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center, 1021 West Cherry Street, Piggott, is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday-Friday with tours on the hour. 

“Hemingway” paints an intimate picture of 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. Narrated by long-time collaborator Peter Coyote, the series features an all-star cast of actors bringing Hemingway, voiced by Jeff Daniels, his friends and his four wives – voiced by Meryl Streep, Keri Russell, Mary-Louise Parker and Patricia Clarkson.

“Hemingway” is a production of Florentine Films and WETA Washington, D.C.

Corporate funding for “Hemingway” was provided by Bank of America. Major funding was provided by the Annenberg Foundation, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and by “The Better Angels Society,” and its members John & Leslie McQuown, the Elizabeth Ruth Wallace Living Trust, John & Catherine Debs, the Fullerton Family Charitable Fund, the Kissick Family Foundation, Gail M. Elden, Gilchrist & Amy Berg, Robert & Beverly Grappone, Mauree Jane & Mark Perry; and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS.