Latest News

Our Golub doc is screening this Friday, November 10, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM @ Jengo’s Playhouse as part of the Indie fest, Cucalorous in North Carolina. We’d love to see you there!

In late October, Stevie screened to an audience of over 200 people in Nagano. A week of screenings in Hiroshima begins today, then the film heads to Saitama. Support of the film in Japan has been great – special thanks to Momo for all her hard work getting Stevie to audiences that appreciate it!

Kartemquin was represented at the IFP Chicago Midwest Filmmakers Summit this past weekend by Gordon Quinn and Jim Morrissette. Gordon moderated a panel entitled, “Docs in Chicago: Nice Bombs, Case Study” with the director and producers of this recent local doc and Jim participated in a panel led by Tom Fletcher on “Emerging Digital Workflows for Production.”

In the Family filmmaker Joanna Rudnick was interviewed in the October 22 Chicago Tribune about young women confronting the BRCA mutation. “How an individual woman experiences it is influenced by her family, her history, her place in life and her values,” she noted. For the full article, click here.

Additionally, the October issue of Chicago Health + Wellness magazine features an extended interview with Joanna about In the Family and her experiences testing positive for the BRCA mutation. The issue will be available at Borders Bookstores and Jewel/Osco stores throughout Chicago, and online.

The Archimedia Workshop and Kartemquin Educational Films announced their partnership to produce the first documentary film for national television broadcast about the life and legacy of noted architect and urban planner Daniel Hudson Burnham (1846-1912). “This project brings together the strengths of each production team,” said Judith Paine McBrien, the film’s producer, “and we are looking forward to collaborating on such a timely project.” Read full press release (Word document, 24K).

Kartemquin Films is excited to be the recipient of a 2006 Partnership grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation to preserve its founding film, Home for Life. This grant, totaling over $11,500 in in-kind services and cash funds, will allow Kartemquin to restore and re-release this important film. Thanks to the Spertus Institute, the Chicago Film Archives, Chace Productions, Film Technology and I-Cubed for their assistance and support with this effort. This is Kartemquin’s first preservation award. For more information, or to see who else was awarded, please visit filmpreservation.org.

Gordon traveled to Paris in June to speak at the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue conference on “New Relationships Between Creative Communities and Consumers”. He gave a presentation on the issue of fair use in documentaries. You can listen to his speech and get more information here.

Howard Reich will appear on WTTW - Channel 11’s “Friday Night with John Callawayâ at 7:30 pm on Friday, September 29th to discuss his recent book about his mother as well as Kartemquin’s forthcoming film on the same subject, Prisoner of Her Past.

Beginning tonight at 7pm and 10pm, There’s No Place Like Home a short film Peter made with Susanne Suffredin will be on Turner Classic Movies. It is an eight minute piece about Peter’s mother’s state of mind and her love of old movies. It will be aired throughout the month on TCM. You can also watch the film and an interview with Peter on www.hermes.com

Kartemquin Director of Communications Justine Nagan recently introduced and moderated a discussion with documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick at an Illinois Humanities Council screening of Dick’s latest film, This Film is Not Yet Rated. The August 31st event kicked-off the film’s Chicago run at the Landmark Century Cinema. Gordon Quinn helped host a luncheon for the filmmaker earlier in the day.

The Illinois Arts Council has awarded Kartemquin Educational Films a grant of $14,270.00 from State funds for support of the feature length documentary: Milking the Rhino…and Other Tales of Community Conservation. Each Kartemquin project employs and hopes to inspire a variety of Illinois artists. Our films succeed because of the collaborative efforts of local directors, writers, cinematographers, editors, musicians, graphic designers and many talented others. Milking the Rhino is no exception. This grant is part of the larger picture of IAC support for Kartemquin projects over the years. In the case of Milking the Rhino, this financial support will help to offset the costs of high definition video post-production during our 2007 fiscal year.

Joanna Rudnick recently participated as a judge for the 2006 Third Coast Audio Music Festival at WBEZ in Chicago. For more information on Third Coast. More information

Golub: Late Works are the Catastrophes has been chosen as an early selection into the 12th Annual Cucalorus Film Festival. Cucalorus 12 will be held November 8-11, 2006 in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina.

For more information, please visit the Cucalorus website

Long-time Kartemquin Associate Judy Hoffman is conducting a seminar for teachers on the power of using documentary as a tool in the classroom as a part of Cinema/Chicago’s Teachers Institute on Wednesday August 16th. More information

Check out Gordon Quinn’s quote about John Iltis and his great work on Hoop Dreams in this week’s Chicago Reader.

Last night, the Southwest Youth Collaborative honored Gordon and Jerry for the power of their films in the community at an event at the Hot House.

The Southwest Youth Collaborative is a joint venture of South/Southwest side Chicago youth and neighborhood organizations who together work with children and teens from “diverse racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds to unleash their potential to become successful and actively contributing members of society.”

In the Family spent the last week of June filming in Washington DC. On June 27, Joanna presented a sample of the film to the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society (SACGHS), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This panel of government officials, researchers, and experts advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services on genetic policy. Two days later, Joanna spoke and showed the sample in a policy briefing on Capitol Hill concerning the passage of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). We also interviewed Congresswomen Judy Biggert (R-IL), the Bill’s lead sponsor, for the film. You can find out more about GINA and the efforts to pass the Bill here.

In the Family recently received grants from the Harry S. Black and Allon Fuller Fund, the Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund, and the Hugh Hefner Foundation. We are grateful for their support.

In the Family is proud to announce the establishment of outreach partnerships with the following organizations: Chicago Center for Jewish Genetic Disorders, Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE), Genetic Alliance, and the National Society of Genetic Counselors. These partnerships will be integral in developing our outreach campaign.

A new DVD which contains 88 minutes of rough-cut material is now finished. The disk is comprised of 11 stand-alone scenes from Namibia and Kenya as well as a short demo for the film. Director David E. Simpson edited the material with assistance from Associate Producer Aaron Wickenden. Kartemquin’s Jim Morrissette authored the disk and Dan Sharkey, formally of gripdesign, created beautiful packaging. Along with newly revised fundraising materials, authored with the help of development consultant Julie Simpson, the Milking the Rhino team will be using this disk as part of a targeted fundraising push. In the coming months, the team will be approaching specific foundations and exploring various co-production possibilities as a way to meet their fundraising goals. Plans are underway for a final return trip to Africa in Spring of 2007.

Kartemquin Films and Facets are proud of the recent Labor Stories DVD release. The DVD contains Kartemquin classics, [[What’s Happening at Local 70?|film:whats-happening-at-local-70]], UE Wells and HSA Strike, in addition to a collective booklet with information about the works. For more information, or to order, visit Facets Multimedia.

Refrigerator Mothers will be screened at the first annual Staten Island Film Festival taking place June 1-4, 2006 in Staten Island. A special screening of Refrigerator Mothers will be held for members of the Eden II Programs. Established in 1978, Eden II provides children with autism and their families specialized community-based programs and other opportunities with the goal of enabling them to achieve the highest quality of life. More information

Peter Gilbert gave the keynote address at the annual luncheon for The Emergency Fund in Chicago this afternoon. Additionally, Peter screened a short video project, edited by Leslie Simmer, that Kartemquin created for The Emergency Fund to help promote the important work that they do. The Emergency Fund is a Chicago non-profit that works with other local agencies to provide necessary assistance to help low-income individuals and families through a crisis or transition.

On Sunday, May 21, 2006 a fundraiser for Milking the Rhino…and Other Tales of Community Conservation was held at Gabriel’s Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Thirty-two artists from the USA, Europe, Canada, Australia, Africa, and the island of Mauritius donated over 60 pieces of original artwork and crafts to the event. The gallery donated an African inspired buffet of exotic foods accompanied by South African wines, while the Maple Street Dance School from Albuquerque donated live performances by Ghanaian drummers and dancers. A short demo video of Milking the Rhino was screened for the audience of approximately 200 people generating a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm for the documentary. The local media supported the fundraiser with a front page story about Milking the Rhino and the fundraiser in the Journal North as well as informative articles appearing in the New Mexican, Southwest Art Magazine, the Santa Fean and Passatiempo publications. The local NPR station interviewed co-producer, Jeannie Magill; and the local radio station, KSFR, and TV station KAZQ in Albuquerque provided a wide audience with film clips and background information about this timely documentary.

The Illinois Humanities Council awarded Kartemquin Films a media grant for post-production on Terra Incognita.

Kartemquin received a $5,000 grant from the Daniel Heumann Fund for continued production on Terra Incognita.

Kartemquin is proud to announce the release of Refrigerator Mothers on DVD, distributed by Fanlight.

After a successful production trip to Namibia and Kenya, Milking the Rhino…and Other Tales of Community Conservation is now three-quarters of the way to being “in-the-can.” 67 hours of HighDef footage (Panasonic Varicam, 16×) was shot by cameraman Jason Longo, and sound person Rich Pooler. The crew was led by director David E. Simpson and producer Jeannie Magill, who are now preparing to edit a rough cut of this material.

Kartemquin is excited about the release of the Golub/Spero_ DVD. Check it out on the store section of our website.

Kartemquin Films recently received support from The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation to assist with the creation of The New Americans DVD with an added Spanish language track. Kartemquin is in the process of beginning work on the DVD and this grant will be central to moving the project forward.

Join us for a screening of Golub: Late Works are the Catastrophes with filmmaker Gordon Quinn, on January 31, 2006 in New York. The film begins at 8:00 p.m. followed by a discussion with Gordon. Tickets are $12 at the door.

Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue (and 2nd Street)
New York, NY 10003
212 505-5181

Stevie will begin its premiere theatrical run in Japan at the “Pole-Pole Higashinakano” Theater in Tokyo, on Saturday, February 18th, 2006. Director/Producer Steve James and Producer Adam Singer will have a Q&A session following the 10:45AM, 1:40PM, 4:35PM and the 7:30PM screenings on Feb. 18th. They will also be there to answer questions after the 10:45AM and 1:40pm showings on Feb. 19th. Additionally, Hoop Dreams will show all night at the same theatre on February 18th. Stevie will run at the Pole-Pole through Friday, March 17, 2006.

Daily Screening schedule:
10:45AM/ 1:40PM/ 4:35PM/ 7:30PM

Pole-Pole Higashinakano Theater
Nakako-ku, Higashinakano 4-4-1
The building name is Pole Pole Za building BF1
Tel:03-3371-0088
The train line is JR-Sobu line, JR-Higashinakano station.

Japanese websites:
moviola.jp/stevie
 mmjp.or.jp/pole2