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Kartemquin Films has always been guided by the motto "Democracy through Documentary," as author Patricia Aufderheide notes in her book Kartemquin Films: Documentaries on the Frontlines of Democracy.
For generations, the Chicago-based institution has been producing some of the most lauded and important nonfiction films, among them Hoop Dreams (1994), Minding the Gap (2018), Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016), The Interrupters (2011), the short Edith+Eddie (2018), the docuseries The New Americans (2003) and many more. What unifies these documentaries is their commitment to examining urgent and contentious social and political realities, consistent with Kartemquin Films’ stated purpose: "[T]o empower the creation of stories that foster a more engaged and just society - turning toward and grappling with the most critical issues of our time," as it says on its website.
The nonprofit founded by Stan Karter, Jerry Temaner and Gordon Quinn (the name is an amalgam of the founders' last names) is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. In honor of that milestone, the latest edition of Deadline's Doc Talk podcast explores the exceptional impact of Kartemquin Films, in conversation with Quinn and Aufderheide.
Quinn sheds light on some of KTQ's most significant productions, especially Hoops Dreams, the seminal film directed by Steve James (also the director of Abacus, The Interrupters, Life Itself and other Kartemquin classics). Quinn tells Doc Talk how the success of Hoop Dreams ostensibly opened doors in Hollywood to KTQ — an "invitation" that came with something of a caveat.
Aufderheide and Quinn offer a penetrating analysis of the way Kartemquin Films departed from the Griersonian model of documentary filmmaking that predominated in much of the English-speaking world in the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, and even beyond. And they share their perspective on the role of an institution like Kartemquin Films, dedicated to democratic values, at a time when the U.S. is facing what many (including Quinn) consider to be the greatest threat to government by and for the people in its 250-year history.
That's on the new episode of Doc Talk hosted by Oscar winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Shirley) and Matt Carey, Deadline's senior documentary editor. The pod is a production of Deadline and Ridley's Nō Studios.
Listen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple.
