Audiences turned out in droves for two special preview screenings this week of the upcoming docu-series America to Me by Steve James. The series airs on Starz beginning August 26, 9PM CST. The epic 10-part series follows students, teachers and administrators in suburban Chicago's Oak Park and River Forest High School, one of the country's most exemplary and diverse public schools, over the course of a year as they grapple with decades-long racial and educational inequities – in addition to the challenges that today's teenagers face. The first-ever public screening in Oak Park of episodes one and two of the series took place on Monday, August 13th at the Lake Theatre, and was presented by Kartemquin Films, Participant Media, Starz, and Oak Park and River Forest High School. All 500-plus free tickets to the event were reserved in less than an hour. Continued

Acclaimed director Steve James will receive Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival's 'Sustained Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking Award' on the closing night of the fest at 6:30PM on August 26. The fest will also screen James' 2018 Academy Award-nominated film Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, the first two episodes of James' upcoming Starz-acquired series America to Me, and Bing Liu's Minding the Gap (executive produced by James). Screenings: Saturday, August 25 7:15PM - Abacus: Small Enough to Jail Sunday, August 26 1PM - America to Me Sunday, August 26 4PM - Minding the Gap Continued

Kartemquin is thrilled to share America to Me, which will make its US television premiere August 26 at 9PM ET/PT on Starz. The 10-part docu-series is created by Emmy® Award-winning and Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters, Life Itself, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail) and produced by Kartemquin Films and Participant Media. Variety released the official trailer for the series this morning. You can also read about the series and view the trailer in the Chicago Tribune. Continued

Kartemquin is thrilled to share that long-time Kartemquin associate Steve James has been announced as the 2018 AFI DOCS Charles Guggenheim Symposium honoree. Read the official release from AFI DOCS here. James will be honored on June 14 at 6:30PM at the National Museum of American History's theater, where episode one of the James' upcoming docuseries America to Me will screen. The evening will also include an in-depth conversation with James along with clips from his acclaimed works. Purchase tickets here. Continued

Minding the Gap and America to Me will both travel to Durham, North Carolina, this April for screenings at the 2018 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, running April 5-8. SCREENING TIMES: Minding the Gap: Saturday, April 7 - 4:20PM (Director Bing Liu in-person) America to Me: Sunday, April 8 - 7:30PM (Director Steve James and editor Leslie Simmer in-person) Continued

Starz, a Lionsgate company, today announced the premium cable network has acquired the unscripted 10-part docu-series America to Me, created by award-winning filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters, Life Itself), and produced by Participant Media and Kartemquin Films. Continued

The 2018 Sundance Film Festival will host the world premiere of America to Me, an epic 10-part series by acclaimed Director Steve James. A year-long immersion into one of Chicago's most progressive and diverse public schools, located in suburban Oak Park, America to Me explores America's charged state of race, culture and education today with unprecedented depth and scope. Sundance will show several episodes of the series as part of their new Indie Episodic section, which was announced today. The festival is in Park City, UT, running January 18-28. Continued

Dear Friends, As our 50th year draws to a close we are grateful for your friendship and support. These final days of 2016 have been filled with much reflection and dialogue here at Kartemquin Films–as they have been in communities around the country. In a world seemingly marked by new depths of divisiveness and intolerance, the urgency of our mission has never been clearer. Continued

Kartemquin's very first Fall Festival, in partnership with ArcLight Cinemas Chicago, spanned three days and exhibited 26 films, 62% of which were directed by filmmakers of color and 50% by women. We were thrilled to be joined by so many members of the diverse Chicago documentary community, and to share in the viewing of groundbreaking work and lively post-screening discussions. Continued

We're one week away from Kartemquin's Fall Festival Nov. 2-4 in partnership with ArcLight Cinemas Chicago! The festival features groundbreaking work from our filmmaker development programs, Chicago Premieres of newly completed films Unbroken Glass and City of Trees, and never-before-seen previews of docs-in-progress America to Me, Dilemma of Desire, and Eating Up Easter. Continued