Continuing our tradition of providing a home for the best independent filmmaking talent, Kartemquin is happy to announce the development of two new film projects: Mormons Make Movies and The Trials of Muhammad Ali.

In Mormons Make Movies, Producer/Director Xan Aranda examines the Mormon film industry and its origins within the Brigham Young University Motion Pictures Studio of the 1960s. A former fifth-generation Mormon, Xan re-engages with the religion to explore creativity, craft, and social identity within its controversially clean-cut culture. A Producer of Milking the Rhino and currently Outreach Director for Prisoner of Her Past, Xan has been affiliated with Kartemquin since 2007.

Bill Siegel, Producer/Director of The Trials of Muhammad Ali, is also a long-time friend of Kartemquin, having been a researcher on Hoop Dreams. As a filmmaker, he is best known for his Oscar-nominated documentary The Weather Underground. With his new film, Siegel will explore 'Ali’s toughest bout': his battle to overturn the five-year prison sentence he received for refusing US military service. Bill's film will mix archival footage with newly shot reconstructions of Ali's trials, creating an innovative approach to historical documentary.

You can read more about both projects on Kartemquin's in-progress page.