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Companies: Best Movies & TV Shows/Series by Kartemquin Films


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37 movies found (page 1/2):

Minding the Gap(2018)

1h 33min | Documentary
3.9/5 (with 76 votes)

Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.

Directed by Bing Liu

Hoop Dreams(1994)

2h 54min | Documentary
3.8/5 (with 138 votes)

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Life Itself(2014)

2h 1min | Documentary
3.8/5 (with 154 votes)

The surprising and entertaining life of renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert (1942-2013): his early days as a freewheeling bachelor and Pulitzer Prize winner, his famously contentious partnership with Gene Siskel, his life-altering marriage, and his brave and transcendent battle with cancer.

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail(2017)

1h 28min | Documentary
3.5/5 (with 32 votes)

The incredible saga of the Chinese immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York. Accused of mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., Abacus becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend themselves – and their bank’s legacy in the Chinatown community – over the course of a five-year legal battle.

Directed by Steve James

The Interrupters(2011)

2h 5min | Documentary
3.4/5 (with 21 votes)

The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters — former gang members who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once caused.

Directed by Steve James

A Compassionate Spy(2022)

1h 41min | Documentary
3.3/5 (with 1 vote)

Recruited in 1944 as an 18-year-old Harvard undergraduate to be the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project, to create a bomb before the Germans did, Ted Hall didn’t share his colleagues’ elation after the successful detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb. Increasingly concerned during 1944—with Germany clearly losing the war—that a U.S. post-war monopoly on such a powerful weapon after the war could lead to nuclear catastrophe, he decided beginning that October to start passing key information about the bomb’s construction to the Soviet Union. After the war, at the University of Chicago, he met and married Joan, a fellow student with whom he shared a passion for classical music and socialist causes — and the explosive secret of his espionage. Living under a cloud of suspicion and years of FBI surveillance and intimidation, the pair raised a family while Ted refocused his scientific brilliance on groundbreaking bio-physics research.

Directed by Steve James

The First Step(2021)

1h 30min | Documentary
3.5/5 (with 1 vote)

Van Jones navigates increasingly tense and isolating political and racial divides in his attempt to become a “bridge builder” during the Trump administration.

City So Real(2020)

4h 30min | Documentary

Over four episodes, Steve James takes an unflinching look at the tumultuous political workings of Chicago. City So Real traverses a broad array of neighborhoods, parades, eateries, and living rooms. James positions the viewer in the midst of the trial of Jason Van Dyke, a Chicago police officer convicted for the murder of Laquan McDonald. He then takes us to the infamous halls of local government during a mayoral race and subsequent runoff election that leads to the victory of Lori Lightfoot, the city’s first openly gay and first African American woman mayor. City So Real is a true testament to the hard-working blue-collar attitude of the beloved Windy City.

Stevie(2002)

2h 20min | Documentary, Drama
3.4/5 (with 13 votes)

In 1995 Director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) returned to rural Southern Illinois to reconnect with Stevie Fielding, a troubled young boy he had been an 'Advocate Big Brother' to ten years earlier.

Directed by Steve James

The Trials of Muhammad Ali(2013)

1h 26min | Documentary
3.5/5 (with 9 votes)

Brash boxer Cassius Clay burst into the American consciousness in the early 1960s, just ahead of the Civil Rights movement. His transformation into the spiritually enlightened heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali is legendary, but this religious awakening also led to a bitter legal battle with the U.S. government after he refused to serve in the Vietnam War. This film reveals the perfect storm of race, religion and politics that shaped one of the most recognizable figures in sports history.

Directed by Bill Siegel - With Muhammad Ali, Louis Farrakhan, Rahman Ali

Finding Yingying(2020)

1h 37min | Documentary
4.0/5 (with 1 vote)

Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old Chinese student, comes to the U.S. to study. In her detailed and beautiful diaries, the aspiring young scientist and teacher is full of optimism, hoping to also be married and a mother someday. Within weeks of her arrival, Yingying disappears from the campus. Through exclusive access to Yingying’s family and boyfriend, Finding Yingying closely follows their journey as they search to unravel the mystery of her disappearance and seek justice for their daughter while navigating a strange, foreign country. But most of all, Finding Yingying is the story of who Yingying was: a talented young woman loved by her family and friends.

Edith+Eddie(2017)

30min | Documentary
3.7/5 (with 8 votes)

Edith and Eddie, ages 96 and 95, are America's oldest interracial newlyweds. Their unusual and idyllic love story is threatened by a family feud that triggers a devastating abuse of the legal guardianship system.

Directed by Laura Checkoway
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Wuhan Wuhan(2022)

1h 30min | Documentary
3.0/5 (with 1 vote)

In a time when the world needs greater cross-cultural understanding, WUHAN WUHAN is an invaluable depiction of a metropolis joining together to overcome a crisis.

City of Trees(2015)

1h 30min | Documentary
4.0/5 (with 1 vote)

During the Great Recession, joblessness exceeds 20 percent east of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC. City of Trees follows the intimate stories of Charles, Michael and James, three long-term unemployed residents struggling to gain employment through 'shovel ready' green projects. When stimulus dollars run out, short term idealism clashes with day-to-day survival in the struggle to find a sense of purpose and place in a recovering economy.

Cooked: Survival by Zip Code(2019)

1h 19min | Documentary
4.5/5 (with 1 vote)

Filmmaker Judith Helfand's searing investigation into the politics of “disaster” – by way of the deadly 1995 Chicago heat wave, in which 739 residents perished (mostly Black and living in the city’s poorest neighborhoods).

Represent(2020)

1h 33min | Documentary

In the heart of the American Midwest, three women take on entrenched political systems in their fight to reshape local politics on their own terms.

The Dilemma of Desire(2020)

1h 48min | Documentary
3.3/5 (with 1 vote)

The Dilemma of Desire explores the work of four women who are shattering myths and lies that women are being told about their sexual desire and their bodies. Coined by artist Sophia Wallace, “Cliteracy” is the understanding that the clitoris is fundamental to the female orgasm. Through her art, Wallace is changing culture. Dr. Stacey Dutton, a neuroscientist, studies the biology of the clitoris; Dr. Lisa Diamond is dismantling outdated notions about women’s arousal; and Ti Chang, an industrial designer, creates elegant vibrators for women. Providing the embodiment of their work are the real life stories of Umnia, Becca, Jasmine, Sunny, and Coriama.

Almost There(2015)

1h 25min | Documentary
3.4/5 (with 3 votes)

A coming-of-(old)-age story about Peter Anton, an elderly "outsider" artist living in isolated and crippling conditions whose world changes when two filmmakers discover his work and storied past. Shot over eight years, ALMOST THERE documents Anton's first major exhibition and how the controversy it generates forces him to leave his childhood home. Each layer revealed reflects on the intersections of social norms, elder care, and artistic expression.

Directed by Dan Rybicky, Aaron Wickenden

In the Game(2015)

1h 31min | Documentary

Through the stories of a Hispanic girls soccer team at Kelly High School in Chicago, IN THE GAME illustrates the enormous challenges facing inner-city girls in their quest for higher education and, most importantly, success in life.

Directed by Maria Finitzo

Unbroken Glass(2017)

57min | Documentary

Unbroken Glass is a documentary about filmmaker Dinesh Sabu's journey to understand his parents, who died 20 years ago when he was six years old.

Saving Mes Aynak(2014)

Saving Mes Aynak follows Afghan archaeologist Qadir Temori as he races against time to save a 5,000-year-old archaeological site in Afghanistan from imminent demolition. A Chinese state-owned mining company is closing in on the ancient site, eager to harvest $100 billion dollars worth of copper buried directly beneath the archaeological ruins. Only 10% of Mes Aynak has been excavated, though, and some believe future discoveries at the site have the potential to redefine the history of Afghanistan and the history of Buddhism itself. Qadir Temori and his fellow Afghan archaeologists face what seems an impossible battle against the Chinese, the Taliban and local politics to save their cultural heritage from likely erasure.

Directed by Brent E. Huffman

In the Family(2008)

1h 23min | Documentary
4.0/5 (with 1 vote)

At 31, filmmaker Joanna Rudnick faces an impossible decision: remove her breasts and ovaries or risk incredible odds of developing cancer. Armed with a genetic test result that leaves her vulnerable and confused, she balances dreams of having her own children with the unnerving reality that she is risking her life by holding on to her fertility.

Directed by Joanna Rudnick

Typeface(2009)

59min | Documentary
3.5/5 (with 1 vote)

Charting the intersection between rural America and contemporary graphic design.

For the Left Hand(2021)

At age 10, aspiring pianist Norman Malone is paralyzed on his right side after being attacked by his father. Over the next several decades he masters the left-hand repertoire in secret, before a chance discovery of his talent leads him towards making his concert debut. Aged 78, he will perform the greatest work in the canon: Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.

Eating Up Easter(2019)

1h 16min | Documentary
3.2/5 (with 2 votes)

Twin Cities filmmaker Sergio M. Rapu sets his gaze on his homeland in Eating Up Easter, where the Rapanui community faces an environmental collapse due to overwhelming tourism and industrial progress. Rapu himself serves as a narrator, describing to his son the depth of Easter Island's plight and the dilemma of the people who live there. Struggling to keep up with a land that refuses to slow down, the film features other locals making the best of an impossible situation: an ecologist who attempts to temper the rising waste crisis that affects both the island and the shores that surround it, a pair of musicians trying to establish a free music school that may help to preserve cultural traditions, and finally, Rapu's father, the island's former Governor, who is caught between responsibility to generations of culture and the ever-growing demands of industry.

'63 Boycott(2016)

30min | Documentary

On October 22, 1963, more than 250,000 students boycotted the Chicago Public Schools to protest racial segregation. Many marched through the city calling for the resignation of School Superintendent Benjamin Willis, who placed trailers, dubbed ‘Willis Wagons,’ on playgrounds and parking lots of overcrowded black schools rather than let them enroll in nearby white schools. Combining unseen archival 16mm footage of the march shot by Kartemquin founder Gordon Quinn with the participants’ reflections today, ’63 Boycott connects the forgotten story of one of the largest northern civil rights demonstrations to contemporary issues around race, education, school closings, and youth activism.

Prisoner of Her Past(2010)

55min | Documentary
5.0/5 (with 1 vote)

Sonia Reich- who survived the Holocaust as a child by running and hiding, suddenly believes that she is being hunted again, 60 years later.

Directed by Gordon Quinn

Raising Bertie(2017)

1h 42min | Documentary
4.5/5 (with 3 votes)

Raising Bertie is a longitudinal documentary feature following three young African American boys over the course of six years as they grow into adulthood in Bertie County, a rural African American-led community in Eastern North Carolina. Through the intimate portrayal of these boys, this powerful vérité film offers a rare in-depth look at the issues facing America's rural youth and the complex relationships between generational poverty, educational equity, and race. The evocative result is an experience that encourages us to recognize the value and complexity in lives all too often ignored.

Directed by Margaret Byrne

Taylor Chain II: A Story of Collective Bargaining(1983)

28min | Documentary

In 1981-2, the Kartemquin filmmakers returned to the Taylor Chain plant to show labor and management working together against the odds, trying to save the plant from becoming the latest victim of anti-union legislation and the globalization of cheap, exploitable labor. A sequel to Taylor Chain I: A Story in a Union Local.

Taylor Chain I: A Story in a Union Local(1980)

33min | Documentary

Taylor Chain I tells the gritty realities of a seven-week strike at a small Indiana chain factory during 1973-74. Volatile union meetings and tension-filled interactions on the picket line provide an inside view of the tensions and conflicts inherent to labor negotiations. Due to a lack of funds and a fire at Kartemquin which necessitated a re-edit of the film, the film was not released until 1980. Filming then began a year later on Taylor Chain II: A Story of Collective Bargaining.

Directed by Gordon Quinn
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