From the award-winning Ken Burns, The Address tells the story of a tiny school in Vermont, where each year the students are encouraged to memorize, practice, and recite the Gettysburg Address. This would be a daunting assignment for any student, but the boys, ages 11-17, at Greenwood School all suffer from learning difficulties that have made their personal, academic, and social progress extremely challenging.

The Address reveals how President Lincoln’s historic words motivate and engage these students a century-and-a-half after Lincoln delivered a speech that would go on to embolden the Union cause with some of the most stirring words ever spoken.

After embedding camera crews at the school for a semester to chronicle the boys’ struggle to learn Lincoln’s immortal words and deliver them in a final public recitation, acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns has created a fascinating and inspiring documentary, showing how the students heroically confront past failures and humiliations. In its exploration of the Greenwood School, the film also unlocks the history, context and importance of President Lincoln’s most powerful address.