Throughout July and beyond, PBS stations around the country will be broadcasting the national television premiere of Almost There, Dan Rybicky and Aaron Wickenden's award-winning exploration of art, ethics, and aging. The PBS broadcasts begin this Saturday July 2 at 7pm PT on PBS SoCal in Los Angeles, followed by WHUT in Washington, D.C. at 9pm ET on Monday July 4, New Mexico's KENW at 9pm MT on Tuesday, July 5, and a special broadcast of the feature-length version of the film on Chicago's WTTW at 9pm CT on Thursday, July 7. Continued

Director Steve James concluded his speech to 1,000 Kartemquin supporters on Friday, June 24th by quoting the late Roger Ebert. “Chaz’s husband once said very memorably that movies are a machine that generates empathy,” said James. “If there has ever been an organization and a film company whose mission was to generate empathy, it is Kartemquin.” Continued

Retrospectives in New York and Los Angeles to Highlight Five Decades of Documentaries Nearly 1,000 Party Attendees Include CEO of PBS, Stars of Films and Directors from the Past 50 Years of Kartemquin, Elected Officials Not-for-profit documentary production collective Kartemquin Films, the Chicago-based producers of The Interrupters, and The Trials of Muhammad Ali, marks the occasion of its 50th Birthday Party tonight to announce major retrospectives in New York and Los Angeles this summer, a new fund to support filmmakers, and a showcase for emerging midwest independent documentary makers this fall. Continued

From today until next Friday, July 8th, the free KTQ50 series is The New Americans (2003). You saw that date right: We are streaming TWO free weeks of one of Kartemquin's proudest achievements, the 7-part series, The New Americans. Since we know you will be busy celebrating #KTQ50 with us this evening, and the 4th of July holiday is upon us in which we would like to honor the immigration experience, we thought you might need some extra viewing time. "The New Americans is a cinematic masterpiece...It is a sensitive, compelling, irresistible collection of stories." — Andrew Greeley, Chicago Sun Times Continued

WTTW, Chicago's premier public television station, will broadcast Hoop Dreams at 8pm on Thursday, June 23rd as part of a year-long series honoring our 50th anniversary. This special broadcast of our most celebrated film - the first time it has aired on WTTW since its original 1995 PBS national broadcast - precedes our #KTQ50 Birthday Party at the Harris Theater on Friday, June 24, at which the film's stars William Gates, Arthur Agee and Sheila Agee will be among the special guests, along with Hoop Dreams director Steve James and several hundred more Kartemquin filmmakers, subjects, alumni, and fans. Continued

Ahead of its Washington, D.C., premiere at AFI DOCS this weekend, Raising Bertie has been selected to participate in the 2nd annual AFI DOCS Impact Lab, "a two-day intensive designed for filmmakers with issue-driven films who aim to create broader social and political change through the power of story and film." Raising Bertie is a tender portrait of three African American boys coming of age in the rural community of Bertie County, North Carolina. Filmed over the course of six years, Margaret Byrne’s documentary was praised this week as "the Boyhood of this year's AFI DOCS, but with more of an urgent social subtext" by Dean Essner of Washington City Paper. Continued

In case you missed a couple of emails, posts, or general shouting from the rooftops, we are turning 50 years old this year. To celebrate our birthday, Kartemquin Films has done a small takeover of venues, event, and newspapers, to raise awareness of this milestone and to give back to both the Chicago and film community at large. Continued

From today until next Friday, June 24th, the free KTQ50 film is Stevie (2002). "If I was going to document his life, I had to document how ineffectual I was being in helping him." — Director/Producer Steve James Continued

From today until next Friday, June 17th, the free KTQ50 film is Refrigerator Mothers (2002). Refrigerator Mothers is a portrait of seven women who were wrongly villainized by society, yet who found the strength and courage to survive. Continued

While we are excited about our celebration on June 24th, we are still continuing to fight for the ideals and principles that have driven Kartemquin for the last 50 years. Continued