October 2008

Today marks a historic staffing change at Kartemquin. Founder and Executive Director Gordon Quinn is transitioning from his management position to assume the new role of Creative Director for the organization. Following an executive search process, former Associate Director Justine Nagan has been selected to replace Mr. Quinn as Executive Director. Gordon will continue working full-time but will devote greater attention to filmmaking, while Ms. Nagan will transition away from filmmaking into increased organizational responsibility. Read more from Gordon about the transition or read this article in the IDA newsletter about the change.

In case you missed the national broadcast premiere of In the Family on PBS’s P.O.V. series last night, there are still opportunities to view! Many local stations will have additional broadcasts over the weekend (check local listings), watch the entire documentary free online through the end of October, buy the DVD, or check out local screenings in Anchorage, AK and Waco, TX.

Resources, talk-back forum and more on the re-vamped In the Family website.

Check out this list of Vanity Fair’s top 25 documentary films, including Kartemquin’s Hoop Dreams.

Check out this week’s Chicago Tribune Magazine for a cover story on Joanna Rudnick and In the Family. Additionally, we just learned that the film has been accepted into the prestigious Council on Foundations Film Festival for 2009 in Atlanta.

Kartemquin’s Creative Director Gordon Quinn has been in Mexico this week speaking on the Best Practices of Fair Use in Documentary. The center of his trip was a presentation at the Morelia Film Festival. Read this blog post about the session.

Two exciting Terra Incognita developments this week! For those of you in the Chicago area, WTTW the local PBS station, is re-broadcasting the film this Wednesday night at 10:00pm- right after the debates! Get more information.

Then, later this month the film will screen twice on October 23rd, in competition, as a part of the first annual Science Film Festival in Galicia, Spain. Get the details.

Additionally, Kartemquin is excited to announce that Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita has been accepted to the prestigious Council on Foundations Film Festival taking place in May 2009 in Atlanta. Exciting to have two films in the fest this year!

Following a great screening of Kartemquin’s latest work-in-progress at the APHA conference in New York this past weekend, we’d like to invite you to get a sneak preview of the final film at the Walker Art Museum in Minneapolis on Thursday, November 6. Get tickets now. The screening is co-sponsored by AIGA MN and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Director Justine Nagan will join Bill Moran and Greg Corrigan from the film for a discussion following the film.

Check out photos from the APHA presentation.

Hit the Chicago Public Library on State Street tonight to catch Kartmequin’s Steve James participate in a panel on storytelling around the topic of “new journalism.” The event is part of the “One Book, One Chicago” project. Get the details.

Congratulations to grand prize-winners Brandon Hummons and Chris Frills for their short film “Hope in America,” and to finalists Dan Andries for his short film “Group” and members of Feel Tank Chicago for their short film “Twenty Reasons.” Honorable mention goes to John Birkner for his short film “Belleville Nights.”

The “Looking for Democracy Short Film Contest” was co-sponsored by Kartemquin, along with The Public Square, the Independent Television Service, Independent Lens, Independent Feature Project (IFP) Chicago, Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV), and the Columbia College Television Department.

Join us to celebrate and screen the winning films on October 28th, 6:30-8:30pm, in an evening entitled “Hope in America? Making Our Own Media.” Kartemquin Film’s Gordon Quinn will explore the meaning of hope in America and the value of alternative media this election season. After the films are screened, there will be a facilitated conversation with community activist Anton Seals and the winning filmmakers about the art of filmmaking and social change. Winning filmmakers will be awarded prizes to celebrate their commitment to creating media that encourages political dialogue, and a reception will close out the evening.

The event is free and open to the public. Reservations are recommended and can be made online, by email at events@prairie.org, or at 312.422.5580.

Get your tickets now for the sneak preview of Typeface, Thursday night, November 6th before they sell out! Tickets for the 7pm show are gone, but a 9pm screening was just added!

The film has recently been covered by Culture Soak and Reason Being.

Kartemquin is excited to announce that Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita recently took home two prizes at the Coruna Science Film Festival in Galicia, Spain. The film tied for second place in the feature category and was awarded 1,500 Euros. Additionally, the film received a “Youth Award,” the highest honor given by the youth jury, and a 1,000 Euro prize.

Leading up to the Chicago Humanities fest screening this Sunday at 3pm, read this blog post on Afromusing about the film.

On November 9th, Kartemquin’s Gordon Quinn will speak on a distinguished panel of documentary makers and programmers to discuss documentary filmmaking’s rise in popularity and influence, and consider some of the inevitable questions that accompany it. Also on the panel are Tom Bailey, Typeface DP, and Johanna Zorn, executive director of the Third Coast International Audio Festival. The discussion will be moderated by Thom Powers, filmmaker and documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival and the Stranger than Fiction series at New York’s IFC Center.

More info.