September 2005

Kartemquin Films will be involved with two events at the 2005 Chicago Humanities Festival.

Sunday November 13th - Noon
KARTEMQUIN FILMS: Revisiting The New Americans

The New Americans tracks four years in the lives of a diverse group of contemporary immigrants and refugees as they journey to start new lives in America. A 40-minute excerpt of the award-winning film is followed by discussion with the filmmakers Gordon Quinn, Steve James, and Jerry Blumenthal. More information/tickets

Sunday November 13th - 2:30pm
HOWARD REICH, GORDON QUINN: Prisoner of Her Past

Gordon Quinn of Kartemquin Films and Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune present excerpts of their documentary-in-progress, Prisoner of Her Past. The film will trace Reich’s attempt to uncover his mother’s tragic Holocaust childhood in order to understand why she is reliving it, 60 years later. Quinn and Reich discuss the film with John D. Callaway. More information/tickets

We are proud to announce the upcoming “Truth in Motion: A Retrospective of Kartemquin Films – a tribute to Chicago’s respected documentary film collective as they enter their 40th year.” The retrospective will run at the University of Chicago from October 27 - November 12 and will include screenings, panel discussions and a Master Class. It is sponsored by The University of Chicago Human Rights Program, Franke Institute for the Humanities, The Center for Film & Media Studies and The Presidential Arts Fellowship with support from the Public Square and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. More details to come!

From The Chicago Reader:

Urban Rural Wild: Chicagoland Gridded/Revised

In conjunction with an exhibit of the same title opening at I Space on September 9, filmmaker Thomas Comerford curated this program of six films and videos on Chicago geography. The first film, Kartemquin Films’ Now We Live on Clifton (1974) follows three young boys in gentrifying Lincoln Park; their mundane outdoor horseplay gains an acidic edge when one kid tells how “regular” families like his can’t afford the newly rehabbed homes. Conrad O. Nelson’s beautifully Halsted Street (1934) finds contrasts between rich and poor in the street’s geography, and Brandon Doherty’s The Presence of Absence (2002) makes still photos of vacant lots and decrepit buildings more haunting by animating them at various speeds. 70 min.