Available From UC Press

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 of 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.

“Though I’ve been a part of Kartemquin Films for nearly forty years, Pat Aufderheide's book was a revelation for me about its history, its guiding passions, and its community of artists. Gordon Quinn emerges as a true hero in our field, while his creative partner Jerry Blumenthal symbolizes the heart and soul of the place. This book has finally—beautifully—etched Kartemquin’s place in film history.”—Steve James, director of Hoop Dreams

“A highly original and compelling book that will be of monumental importance to the field. With acumen and verve, Kartemquin Films reclaims regional independent cinema and wrests its story away from the coasts in this epic hidden history of a key Chicago institution.”––Patricia R. Zimmermann, author of Documentary Across Platforms: Reverse Engineering Media, Place, and Politics and director of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival

“With depth, rigor, and heart, Patricia Aufderheide elevates Kartemquin Films to its rightful place in the film canon and documentary history, connecting its founding principles to defining moments and movements. Kartemquin is powerfully and crucially rendered as a small but mighty institution that has profoundly influenced the form, American culture, and the media landscape through its dogged commitment to participatory democracy.”—Carrie Lozano, President and CEO of Independent Television Service and former director of documentary film and artist programs at the Sundance Institute

“Hoop Dreams is just the tip of the iceberg. Aufderheide reveals everything below the surface. It's essential reading for anyone with a love for Chicago, left-wing activism or documentary film history.”—Thom Powers, cofounder of the DOC NYC festival and host of the Pure Nonfiction podcast

“Aufderheide masterfully breathes life into the long-ignored history of the vibrant media culture of the Midwest. Centering Kartemquin while speaking broadly about how people engage in culture-making for a better world, Kartemquin Films is an institutional history with a playbook for how ordinary people find political consciousness and agency through media. I cannot overstate the urgency, value, and significance of telling this story, which had been on the verge of being lost.”—Angela J. Aguayo, independent filmmaker and author of Documentary Resistance: Social Change and Participatory Media 

“Through the inspiring and sometimes harrowing story of Kartemquin Films, this eminent scholar of public media powerfully intertwines philosophy, history, and the personal accounts of artists who take democracy personally–and do something about it. Patricia Aufderheide reveals the thrilling stakes of Kartemquin's work over six decades and grounds the independent documentary field in its ongoing legacy. The field is in her debt.”—Sally Jo Fifer, former President and CEO, Independent Television Service

“In this age of disinformation and the commercial dominance of true crime, celebrity bios, and unscripted content, Kartemquin Films reminds readers that democracy needs the power and vitality of independent, rigorously researched, cinematic social inquiry. This is an outstanding resource for filmmakers, scholars, and students that I am excited to include in my syllabi."—Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, independent filmmaker and Professor of Social Documentation, University of California, Santa Cruz

"Kartemquin Films is the progenitor of a glorious documentary tradition that reverberates across the global field. Patricia Aufderheide, one of our finest documentary historians, ethnographers, and thinkers, captures the heart of the astonishing Kartemquin story as only she can—with her trademark beautiful writing, passion, and meticulous attention to detail. This book is required reading for anyone who seeks to understand the past, present, and future of social-issue documentary storytelling and why the form matters so much to democracy."—Caty Borum, author of Story Movements: How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change and Executive Director of the Center for Media & Social Impact

“I was one of those aspiring young filmmakers who sat in a lonely cinema in central London back in 1995 entirely enraptured at Hoop Dreams. When the lights came up, my life had totally changed—what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. What I saw on screen was a great film, but also a calling to a practice. What I came to learn and deeply respect was the story of an ‘improbable American cultural institution’ behind the movie, a band of brothers and sisters who redefined what participating fully in society as artists and creatives could look like; who championed citizen-led documentary; who built community through their organization over decades and transformed the field beyond. Thank you, team Kartemquin, doesn’t really cut it. But also, really, thank you. For the work and the faith in the work—over all these years.”—Beadie Finzi, Director, Doc Society

"Kartemquin has been a constant force in the documentary field since the turbulent 1960s, yet it hasn’t received the recognition it deserves as a resilient, evolving institution that prioritizes its mission and core values over publicity, self-promotion, and celebrity culture. Aufderheide’s book puts Kartemquin in its rightful place—socially, culturally, and historically—and positions the media company as a stalwart institution buoyed by artists, storytellers, activists, and leaders who see social justice documentary filmmaking as a tool to uphold democracy. The book also provides the documentary field with a historical account of the conditions that gave rise to Kartemquin Films, and a blueprint for how we in the documentary film industry can survive in a rapidly changing media ecosphere without sacrificing our mission and our purpose. Kartemquin Films: Documentaries on the Frontlines of Democracy shows us that longevity in the industry is possible so long as we hold on to our passion, our values, and our mission to tell purpose-driven stories.”—Byron Hurt, filmmaker of Hazing

“For too long, Kartemquin has existed on the fringes of film scholarship. In this fascinating study, Aufderheide sheds a clarifying light on this important studio, their contributions to social documentary, and their indelible mark on the broader media landscape. Braiding together analysis of individual films, archival documents, and original interviews, Aufderheide has written a meticulous history of Kartemquin as it evolved from a grassroots collective to a media arts organization. Importantly, Aufderheide skillfully examines how the filmmaking and advocacy work of Kartemquin over the past fifty years have helped to expand the range of venues available to independent documentarians and the resources they can draw on for their projects.”—Joshua Glick, author of Los Angeles Documentary and the Production of Public History, 1958–1977

“Patricia Aufderheide would have made a valuable contribution to our understanding of contemporary documentary cinema simply by telling the story of the pathbreaking production company Kartemquin Films. But Kartemquin Films: Documentaries on the Frontlines of Democracy offers much more. As a public intellectual with a journalist’s eye, she elevates her tale with insights into Deweyan philosophy, media studies, and the evolution of the democratic left—including events she saw first hand. The result is an engaging, challenging, and uplifting piece of history that belongs on every film lover's bookshelf.”—David Lieberman, former Executive Editor of Deadline and Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Media Management, The New School