Artistic Director and founding member of Kartemquin Films, Gordon Quinn has been making documentaries for over 50 years. Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun Times, called his first film Home for Life (1966) "an extraordinarily moving documentary." With Home for Life Gordon established the direction he would take for the next four decades, making cinéma vérité films that investigate and critique society by documenting the unfolding lives of real people. 

Kartemquin Films, a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit, has been producing high-impact documentary films on a variety of subjects from its Chicago base since 1966. Kartemquin is a home for independent filmmakers developing documentary as a vehicle to deepen our understanding of society through everyday human drama. Kartemquin acts as a trusted bridge between communities and the media, aiming to foster the growth of passionate new filmmaking voices, and to advocate for the importance of strong local and public media. Kartemquin’s films have won prizes at festivals throughout the world and have been broadcast nationally and internationally to critical acclaim. Our best-known film, Hoop Dreams, won nearly every major critics award and journalism prize.