Kartemquin Films: Documentaries on the Frontlines of Democracy

How filmmaker-philosophers brought the dream of making documentaries and strengthening democracy to award-winning reality--with help from nuns, gang members, skateboarders, artists, disability activists, and more.

The evolution of Kartemquin Films--Peabody, Emmy, and Sundance-awarded and Oscar-nominated makers of such hits as Hoop Dreams and Minding the Gap--is also the story of U.S. independent documentary film over the last seventy years. Patricia Aufderheide reveals the untold story of how Kartemquin developed as an institution that confronts the brutal realities of the industry and society while empowering people to claim their right to democracy.

Kartemquin filmmakers, inspired by pragmatic philosopher John Dewey, made their studio a Chicago-area institution. Activists for a more public media, they boldly confronted in their own productions the realities of gender, race, and class. They negotiated the harsh terms and demands of commercial media, from 16mm through the streaming era, while holding fast to their democratic vision. Drawing on archival research, interviews, and personal experience, Aufderheide tells an inspiring story of how to make media that matters in a cynical world.

Patricia Aufderheide is University Professor in Communication Studies at American University in Washington, D.C. An award-winning scholar and journalist, she is also author of, among other books, Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction.