Meet: Kartemquin Films

Do you remember Hoop Dreams? It was one of the most critically lauded documentaries of 1994 but ignored at the Oscars (it was nominated for Editing). The film was produced by Kartemquin Films, a Chicago documentary filmhouse who is celebrating a 45th anniversary.

One of their newest films going around to theatres now is The Interrupters. The Interrupters is about people who try to break the cycle of violence before it happens, by trying to connect with people at risk for committing violent crime. It played to sold out shows and had added even more screenings at the Gene Siskel Film Center, and was made by the same director who did Hoop Dreams, Steve James. James has a long relationship with Kartemquin, having collaborated on at least four films with them (Hoop Dreams, Stevie, At the Death House Door and The Interrupters).

Several of Kartemquin's films have played on PBS this year, with The Interrupters being broadcast sometime in 2012.  Kartemquin is able to find many local stories with social issues and characters that many of us can identify with.  Check out some of these other films available on DVD:


Inquiring Nuns
Two nuns traverse Chicago in the late 1960s, asking passersby a seemingly simple question, "Are you happy?"

Refrigerator Mothers
In the 1950s-60s, mothers of autistic children were labeled "refrigerator mothers," i.e. unfeeling toward their children and causing the autism.

Prisoner of Her Past
Noted jazz critic Howard Reich attempts to learn more about his mother, a Holocaust survivor, who suffers from late onset post traumatic stress disorder.

Home for Life
Kartemquin's first film profiles two elderly people entering a senior home for the first time.