Kartemquin will for the first time announce recipients of $150,000 in grants for up to 15 films at the 2018 Kartemquin Films Empowering Truth Benefit Luncheon, taking place on November 1st at 11:30am at the Union League Club of Chicago. 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

Kartemquin is deeply saddened by the passing of Art Shay, one the country's most renowned photographers who snapped countless celebrities and pivotal moments of the 20th century. Shay graciously shared his photos of the 1963 Chicago Public Schools Boycott with the filmmaking team of our 2017 film '63 Boycott. The filmmakers of '63 Boycott posted the videos to the film's website, where individuals could identify themselves or other participants as members of the protest. "Art was the premiere photographer in Chicago. We had both filmed the 1963 Chicago Public Schools Boycott, and over the last few years we got to know each other well. He will be missed greatly, but his work lives on as part of the legacy of the city," said Gordon Quinn, Artistic Director and co-founder of Kartemquin Films. Continued

Kartemquin is deeply saddened by the passing of William "Bill" Nack, who was featured in our 2014 documentary Life Itself, about Roger Ebert. Nack and Ebert became lifelong friends after meeting at the University of Illinois, while both working on The Daily Illini newspaper. As Ebert went on to became perhaps the world's most famous and greatest film critic, Nack was equally successful in his field of sports writing, gaining great acclaim for his decades of journalism for Sports Illustrated, and in particular for his 1975 book "Secretariat: The Making of a Champion," the definitive work on the Triple Crown-winning horse. Continued

On Tuesday, April 4, members of Chicago's film community, charity leaders and Chicago figures gathered outside of the Chicago Theatre to honor the late film critic Roger Ebert, who passed away on April 4, 2013. It was in that same spot outside of the Chicago theatre that Ebert delivered his famous quote about movies functioning as machines that generate empathy. Both Kartemquin Artistic Director and co-founder Gordon Quinn and director Steve James (director of the 2014 Life Itself) spoke as tribute to Ebert. Kartemquin was honored to receive one of 21 $1,000 grants awarded by the Ebert Foundation to organizations that are working to improve the lives of Chicagoans and advance the arts. Continued

Acclaimed director and long-time Kartemquin associate Steve James will be honored by the Cleveland International Film Festival with the festival's Director's Spotlight Award. Previous award recipients include the likes of Kurt Kuenne, Jan Hřebejk, John Sayles, Rolf de Heer, Freida Lee Mock, Todd Solondz and Goran Markovic. CIFF41 runs March 29-April 9 in Cleveland, Ohio. In honor of James, the festival will screen Life Itself, Hoop Dreams, At the Death House Door and his newest release, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail. Continued

In honor of our 50th Anniversary Year, we streamed every Kartemquin Film for free, week by week, all year. Our films were watched by viewers in 49 countries around the world. Here are the top eight films that viewers watched most: 8. Trick Bag (1974) A classic from Kartemquin's early years, Trick Bag features gang members, Vietnam vets and young factory workers from Chicago's neighborhoods sharing their personal experiences with racism: who gets hurt and who profits. The project grew out of Peter Kuttner's association with Rising Up Angry, a radical working-class organization, many of whose members are featured in the film. Continued

From today until Friday, October 7th, the free KTQ50 film is Life Itself (2014). Watch it now. "A life spent at the movies gets the cinematic epitaph it richly deserves in Life Itself, documentarian Steve James’ meticulous and intensely emotional portrait of the late Roger Ebert." — Scott Foundas, Variety Continued

Kartemquin Films won two Emmy Awards tonight at the 37th News and Documentary Emmys in New York City. The Homestretch, directed and produced by Kirsten Kelly and Anne de Mare, won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting - Long Form. Life Itself won Outstanding Editing: Documentary And Long Form for the film's Editors Steve James and David E. Simpson. Continued

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, the Cinema Eye Honors has chosen to recognize the top 20 nonfiction films and top 10 nonfiction filmmakers from the past decade. Continued