The Amish answers many questions Americans have about this insistently insular religious community, whose intense faith and adherence to 300-year-old traditions have by turns captivated and repelled, awed and irritated, inspired and confused for more than a century. With unprecedented access, built on patience and hard-won trust, the film is the first to penetrate deeply and explore this attention-averse group.
An Amish farmer working in his field with a team of horses.The film paints an intimate portrait of contemporary Amish faith and life. It questions why and how the Amish, an insistently closed and communal culture, have thrived within one of the most open, individualistic societies on earth; explores how, despite their ingrained submissiveness, the Amish have successfully asserted themselves in resisting the encroachments of modern society and government; asks what Americans’ attraction to the Amish says about deep American values; and looks at what the future holds for a community whose existence is so rooted in the past.
American Experience: The Amish, Tuesday at 8 p.m. on PBS 6.
Watch Amish Preview on PBS. See more from American Experience.
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