Kartemquin Films
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Kartemquin Films is a not-for-profit organization that was founded in 1966 by Gordon Quinn, Jerry Temaner and Stan Karter, three University of Chicago graduates who wanted to make documentary films guided by their principle of "Cinematic Social Inquiry." They were soon joined by Jerry Blumenthal who along with Gordon Quinn remain with the organization today.
Kartemquin's first film in 1966, Home For Life -- a chronicle of two elderly people entering a home for the aged -- established the direction the organization would take over the next four decades. Kartemquin evolved into a film collective producing films such as The Chicago Maternity Center Story and the Taylor Chain films. They continued releasing social-issue documentaries (The Last Pullman Car, Golub) largely for public television and the educational market into the 1990s.
Kartemquin's best known film, Hoop Dreams, won several major critics prizes and journalism awards in 1995 and was named on over 150 “ten best” lists. Filmmakers Steve James, Peter Gilbert and Fred Marx examined the complex role basketball plays in the lives of two inner-city high school players. After receiving the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Hoop Dreams was released theatrically by Fine Line Features and became the highest grossing documentary at that time and one of highest-rated documentaries broadcast on PBS.
Since Hoop Dreams, Kartemquin has continued producing films that examine and critique society by following the stories of real people. At the Death House Door recently premiered at SXSW, and went on to win awards at Full Frame and other festivals. Their recent documentary, Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita, follows Dr. Jack Kessler of Northwestern University in his search for a cure for spinal cord injuries using embryonic stem cells. Other recent documentaries have included: The New Americans, a seven-hour miniseries for PBS that follows immigrant families from five different countries; Stevie; Refrigerator Mothers; 5 Girls; and Vietnam, Long Time Coming. In 2007, Kartemquin Films received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. The group is located in Chicago, Illinois and is still run by Gordon Quinn.
