Eating Up Easter, a new Kartemquin film currently in production is raising finishing funds for the project––and needs your help! Support their Kickstarter campaign for finishing funds HERE. After four trips to the island and 5 years of working nights and weekends on the film, filmmakers Sergio Rapu and Elena Rapu are in the process of finalizing the film––an expensive process to bring the footage and sound of the film to its highest quality possible before submitting to festivals and broadcasters. Continued

Edith+Eddie, the tragic love story between America's oldest interracial newlyweds, won the Short Film Audience Award at the Montclair Film Festival, announced this Saturday. This year's festival featured over 150 feature and short films screened April 28-May 7. The Audience Awards are voted upon by audiences in four categories, Edith+Eddie taking home top honors in the Short Film category. The award comes on the heels of the film's announcement that it will have its European Premiere at the Sheffield Doc/Fest, screening on June 11 at 3:15PM in the Doc/Love Shorts program as a nominee for the Short Doc Award. Continued

Edith+Eddie, a love story about America's oldest interracial newlyweds, was announced today as an official selection of 2017 Sheffield Doc/Fest, where it will screen on June 11 at 3:15pm in the Doc/Love Shorts program as a nominee for the Short Doc Award. Directed, edited and produced by Laura Checkoway, the film internationally premiered at the 2017 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival to acclaim on May 2nd, with additional screenings on May 3rd, and today, May 4th at 3:30pm (get tickets). Continued

Are you a Chicago-area independent filmmaker who has a disability, or who is making a film about disability or inclusion? Kartemquin has partnered with ReelAbilities Chicago, the largest film festival in the United States dedicated to sharing the human experience of disability through art and film, to offer ReeLabs––an exclusive critique and discussion of works-in-progress by up to six eligible local filmmakers. The intimate feedback session is open for incomplete projects at any stage of production, and will take place on Tuesday, October 3rd 2017. SUBMISSION PROCESS: Please complete the ReeLabs submission form for consideration into the program. Have questions or comments? Contact Matt Lauterbach, ReelAbilities Chicago Co-Director at matt@reelabilitieschicago.org Continued

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail has quickly become a festival and audience favorite––nearly as popular with viewers as the Sung family themselves. On Thursday, Abacus won the Audience Award at the San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase. In a statement, director Steve James said: "We are thrilled to win this award tonight. I am sorry I can't be there in person to accept it. Winning this award at your festival, devoted to telling much needed stories about the Asian community, is especially gratifying. We want to thank the festival for programming our film and especially the Sung family, whose courage, humor and grace is such an inspiration to us and audiences." Continued

The 8th and final episode of Stranded by the State, entitled "Toxic Swaps" premieres today. A collaboration between In These Times and Kartemquin Films, the series is directed, edited and produced by Kartemquin associate Liz Kaar and explores the human impact of Illinois' budget crisis. The final episode of Stranded by the State looks at the role big banks have played in destabilizing communities across the country. The same banks who were responsible for the foreclosure crisis in 2008 are now making huge sums of money from predatory loans made to state and city governments. Continued

This week Media Burn Archive unveiled a newly digitized collection of 100 tapes from our 1994 film, Bridges and Boundaries: Chicago Crossings. The collection is a result of an 18-month project funded by the National Endowment for the Arts––consisting entirely of materials never before seen by the public. In 1994, the Spertus Institute of Judaica brought together six Black artists and six Jewish artists to create new work for an ambitious art exhibition. The artists were given minimal constraints on what to produce, with only the guiding principle that the work should in some way connect to the exhibition’s overarching theme—the relationship between the Black and Jewish communities in contemporary America. Continued

Steve James will be honored with the One Take Film Festival's Double Take Vangaurd Award on May 21st at 12:00PM, just prior to the fest's screening of James' latest film Abacus: Small Enough to Jail. In honor of James, the fest will also screen Hoop Dreams. The One Take Film Festival's Double Take Vanguard Award is an annual presentation that spotlights both past and contemporary work by a filmmaker. James is the recipient of the fest's inaugural award, characterized by the fest as "A master documentarian with a distinguished career and whose work illuminates humanity with honor, integrity, complexity and courage." Screenings: Abacus - Sunday, May 21 12PM Continued

Raising Bertie will have its world television broadcast premiere on PBS' POV on August 28th, as part of the prestigious PBS documentary strand's 30th season, announced today. Check local listings here. We are delighted that PBS will bring this compelling story to a national audience. The news comes on the heels of the film's theatrical release announcement, which begins June 9, playing the following theaters, with more to be confirmed soon: Maysles Cinema: New York, NY Pelham Picture House: Pelham, NY Roxie Theatre: San Francisco, CA Continued

Unbroken Glass by director Dinesh Sabu will have its U.S. Television Premiere on Tuesday, May 16 at 8PM EST on WORLD Channel as part of the new season of public media's America ReFramed. The film will be available for free streaming following the broadcast at worldchannel.org starting on May 17th. America ReFramed is a documentary series dedicated to highlighting intimate stories by emerging and veteran filmmakers who are chronicling an ever-changing America. Continued