Latest News

The Interrupters website launched

kartemquin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:19:14 +0000

The Interrupters has launched a new website today. Few details have been made public so far about this highly anticipated documentary from Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here), due to air on PBS Frontline in 2011, but you can be the first to read exclusive updates about the film by signing up for their newsletter via the site.

Kennedy Center to honor Bill T. Jones

kartemquin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:45:11 +0000

Kartemquin would like to congratulate Bill T. Jones, subject of our upcoming film A Good Man, on being named as a 2010 Kennedy Center Honoree. The prestigious award is bestowed upon individuals who have made worthy lifetime contributions to arts and culture by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Center's Chairman David M. Rubenstein stated: "the inventive style and imaginative artistry of Bill T. Jones has had an invaluable impact on the varied landscapes of dance and theater." The other 2010 honorees are Sir Paul McCartney, Merle Haggard, Jerry Herman and Oprah Winfrey.

A Good Man follows Bill T. Jones as he attempts to create a new dance work commemorating the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln. The film will be broadcast on PBS American Masters in 2011. Chicago audiences can catch a 'sneak preview' of the film introduced by director Gordon Quinn at the Chicago Humanities Festival on November 14th. Watch the trailer.

Typeface Chicagoland TV premiere announced!

kartemquin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:54:08 +0000

Great news for Chicago's Typeface fans: WTTW 11 will air the Illinois broadcast premiere of Justine Nagan's award-winning film on November 18th 2010. More details will be announced soon - but start planning your viewing party now!

Want to get your local PBS network to show Typeface? Request a screening so we can show them the demand!

Typeface was also featured in Chicago Art Magazine today in a great article about the film's impact in helping the resurgence of the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum. Read "The Rebirth of Wood Type."

Terra Incognita available to watch on Netflix Instant

kartemquin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:47:37 +0000

As of September 1, Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita is now available to watch on Netflix via instant streaming. Maria Finitzo's Peabody Award-winning 2007 film puts a human face on the crucial debate over stem cell research. Watch it today!

Other Kartemquin documentaries available to watch instantly on Netflix include Milking the Rhino (watch here) and Hoop Dreams (watch here).

Joanna Rudnick on a "the beginning of a new era" for high-risk women

kartemquin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:30:26 +0000

In the Family director Joanna Rudnick is quoted in an Associated Press article today about a new study from the American Medical Association that indicates women at a high-risk of breast and ovarian cancer can benefit from ovary removal surgery.

In the article, Joanna call the findings the "the beginning of a new era" for high-risk women, and reveals her own future plans to have ovary removal surgery at the age of 40 after having children. Read the full article.

Click here to support Joanna's newest film, On Beauty.

Chicago premieres announced for Tony & Janina's American Wedding

kartemquin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:22:35 +0000

Tony and Janina's American Wedding, a Ruthless Films Production in association with Kartemquin Films, will have its first Chicago screenings in October, with a World premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival followed by a theatrical premiere at the Gene Siskel Film Center. The new documentary is directed by Ruth Leitman.

The film is a feature length documentary that gets to the heart of the broken, red tape ridden U.S. immigration system. After 18 years in America, Tony and Janina Wasilewski's family is torn apart when Janina is deported back to Poland, taking their 6 year old son Brian with her. Set on the backdrop of the Chicago political scene, and featuring Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez at the heart of the immigration reform movement, this film follows the Wasilewski's 3-year struggle to be reunited, as their Senator Barack Obama rises to the Presidency. With a fresh perspective on the immigration conversation, this film tells the untold human rights story of Post-9/11, that every undocumented immigrant in America faces today, with the power to open the conversation for change.

Kartemquin's Gordon Quinn is Story Consultant on the project, Leslie Simmer is an Editor on the film and Jim Morrisette is the Colorist / On-line Editor.

The Chicago International Film Festival runs from October 7-21, with schedules yet to be announced. The Siskel Center screenings are on Friday October 22nd at 8pm and on Wednesday October 27th at 8pm. Get tickets and more information from Siskel Center.

Watch the trailer and follow the film on Facebook and Twitter.

Check out the JJ's List fundraiser

kartemquin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:40:26 +0000

Save the date for October 1st, when JJ's List will be hosting the Bridge Builder Benefit, their first ever fundraiser at Pinstripes in Northbrook. Founded by Kartemquin associate JJ Hanley, producer of Refrigerator Mothers, JJ's List is an on-line community resource for individuals with disabilities and their families. Come out to this great event and show your support for this fantastic organization!

The immediate impact of being on the YouTube homepage

kartemquin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:50:25 +0000

On Tuesday, the trailer for Typeface was vaulted to the front page of YouTube thanks to one of the film's fans (read more about it here). Since this was a new experience for the film, we thought we'd share the stats on the impact this immediately had on our site traffic and sales, and also some thoughts on what it was like to have a mini-breakout into the mainstream away from the design, typography and letterpress community that has been such a huge supporter of the film from the start.

~ Before yesterday, the video only had a humble 1,679 views. In a single day, it became our YouTube channel's most watched video ever with 51,357 views (according to YouTube's analytics). It is still gaining large amounts of views today, though not at that pace. A number of our other films also received above average daily views as a result.

~ With those viewers came comments: from 0 to 50 in a single day (not counting obvious spam). Interestingly, the majority of these comments are from people who seem to have no discernible interest in the film's subject matter (or were even aware that there was a film) and so some of the comments were negative. A debate even seemed to break out between typography fans and casual viewers over the very validity of the project. This was new thing for Typeface, which has benefited previously from finding an adoring niche audience who have done a lot of positive marketing on our behalf, such as creating their own posters or spreading the word on twitter. Added to this were the many strange videos and friend requests we suddenly received. The perils of being popular...

~ Happily, YouTube also exposed us to typography lovers who hadn't yet found us. In a single day, we saw a traffic increase of +1,042.39% to the Typeface website, and a +733% increase in visits to the DVD's page in the Kartemquin store, resulting in one of our highest-ever sales days for DVDs (all proceeds of which go to outreach funds for the film and future Kartemquin documentaries). Not bad considering the DVD has been available for pre-order since April 28th 2010, is available on iTunes and Netflix, and has already screened over 50 times around the world.

~ The best part of all this? Karen Kavett, the fan who selected us for the YouTube homepage, told us on twitter that she hasn't even seen the film yet! She will soon though; we're sending her a free copy as a thank you.

So, overall we are of course extremely pleased by the greater exposure YouTube offered our film. What has been most exciting about bringing the film to the public is that each stage of growth has been as much led by our fan base as it has by our own efforts, and the YouTube impact is just the latest example of this. In that spirit, we're trying to embrace the crowd even further by launching a page where people interested in the film can request a screening near them. Check it out and hopefully we can bring Typeface to you!

Typeface trailer lands on YouTube homepage!

kartemquin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:12:20 +0000

Thanks to the great taste of a young design student, for today only you can find our video "Typeface Official Trailer #2" on the YouTube homepage!

The video was chosen by Karen Kavett, a student at Rhode Island School of Design, who was selected by YouTube to curate their homepage for the day. Karen - whose own videos on typography have made a big impact with YouTube viewers - chose the Typeface trailer as part of her "Spotlight: Cool Typography" series (refresh your page if you don't see it right away).

The result has been pretty remarkable, with views for the trailer (and some of our other videos) spiking greatly and inspiring a range of comments, many from people with little previous interest in typography. For a film that has established a great connection to our core audience of designers, artists and lovers of typography and letterpress, it has been interesting to see the reaction of the casual YouTube viewer! But it's clear we've also made some new fans; happily, sales of the DVD have also spiked upwards this afternoon.

Thank you Karen for this unexpected but very welcome taste of YouTube fame!

Prisoner of Her Past now on Netflix, and back in Chicago

kartemquin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:05:58 +0000

The award-winning Kartemquin documentary Prisoner of Her Past is now available on Netflix. Add the film to your queue today!

If you are in the Chicago area however, perhaps you might want to see the film with Howard Reich in person at a special screening at the Spertus Institute on November 14th, 2010. Howard will introduce the film and sign copies of the DVD and his book. Tickets are available now from the Spertus Institute.

Prisoner of Her Past will also screen across the United States and in Greece and Czech Republic this fall. Check out the events page for details.