As the 15th anniversary celebration of Hoop Dreams continues with tonight's SOLD OUT screening at IFC Center in New York, the internet is alive with people sharing their memories of the film.

Just as with the film's 1994 release, the great critic Roger Ebert is leading the way, with his brilliant article on what he calls "the great American documentary" and "the best film of the 1990's" inspiring a number of other bloggers to share their own accounts of how the film has inspired them over the years. Read Ebert's piece here, and some of the follow-up blogs here, here, here and here.

One notable blog was published by former Fine Line Features President Ira Deutchman, who shares his own poignant memories of how he put his career on the line to ensure as many people as possible saw this film, and also on the Oscar controversy surrounding the film's lack of a nomination for 'Best Documentary'... and 'Best Picture.' For what he claims is the "true story" on the Oscar controversy, read Steve Pond's excellent blog at TheWrap.

The anniversary also inspired Nathan Rabin of the Onion AV Club to watch the film for the first time, and lead to a great interview with Steve James and Peter Gilbert on True/Slant's Chicago blog.

Finally, click for photos and video of the 15th anniversary event. Thanks to everyone who attended for supporting Hoop Dreams and Kartemquin Films!

11/12/09 - Read Stranger Than Fiction's thoughts on the event (with pictures!) here.