Top 10 Steve James Documentaries, According To IMDb | ScreenRant
Steve James has had a long and illustrious career as a documentarian. He produces and directs many documentaries focusing on social justice and American life through his non-profit production company Kartemquin Films. Over the decades, James has been nominated for two Academy Awards and Kartemquin has been nominated for two more.
James and his production company's work brings a particular light to Chicago and, over the last 50 years, he has become one of the foremost chroniclers of the city. As a creator, he stands in league with Roger Ebert, Studs Terkel, Richard Wright, Walt Whitman, and many others in their view and influence on the city. Here are his ten best documentaries, according to IMDb.
10 Abacus: Small Enough to Jail - 7.1
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail is James' only film nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. The film focuses on the Abacus Federal Savings Bank, a small bank in New York City's Chinatown. Following the 2007-08 financial crisis, Abacus was the only financial institution to be criminally charged.
Rather than condemn Abacus, James instead creates a portrait of a community built around an institution that bore a burden many others should have shared. Abacus is one of two Frontline episodes Steve James has directed.
9 The Music Man - 7.4
"The Music Man" is a short that is part of a larger compilation called Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas. The documentary is about professor and inventor Ge Wang. He is an associate professor of Music and Computer Stanford University. While at Stanford, Wang created the Stanford Computer Orchestra, a mechanism through which human performers can use more than 20 laptops to create live music.
He also built an Ocarina app for the iPhone that reached the All-Time Top 20 on the Apple Store. James interviewed Wang about his belief in music and the accessibility of musical instruments.
8 Higher Goals - 7.4
"Higher Goals" is something of a dry run for Hoop Dreams. Like James' later masterpiece, 1991's "Higher Goals" focuses on two high school athletes as they balance the pressure of sports, school, and life.
Starring NBA legend Isiah Thomas, the PBS special teaches children about the value of a good education. The special has been shown in thousands of inner-city schools across the country and was nominated for an Emmy in 1993.
7 At the Death House Door - 7.4
At the Death House Door is a documentary about Carroll Pickett, the death house chaplain at the "Walls Unit" of the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville. Pickett presided over 95 executions, including the world's first by lethal injection and the execution of Carlos DeLuna in 1989.
Pickett believed DeLuna was innocent and the film tracks Chicago Tribune reporters who uncover evidence that DeLuna was just that. DeLuna's death was key in transforming Pickett from an advocate for the death penalty into an advocate for its abolition.
6 The Interrupters - 7.5
The Interrupters is a Frontline special about Ceasefire, an anti-violence group in Chicago. The group consists of former gang members who attempt to steer young men and women away from gang violence and occasionally "interrupt" it as it is happening. One of the film's main subjects, Ameena Matthews, was the daughter of Jeff Fort. Fort was the founder of the Almighty Black P. Stone Nation, one of the main African American gangs in the city.
In the documentary, Matthews helps the mother of Derrion Albert navigate her son's death. Albert's death by beating near Christian Fenger Academy High School made headlines after it was caught on tape. The film was produced by Alex Kotlowitz, the writer of There Are No Children Here, another exploration of the African American experience in Chicago.
5 The Ride of Their Lives - 7.7
"The Ride of Their Lives" is a documentary short made as part of The New Yorker Presents series. The documentary is based on a Burkhard Bilger article about the world of bull riding and focuses on a young boy driven to become a world-class bull rider.
His father also rode bulls and now works on a ranch that breeds bulls for riding. Rhyder attends the YBR World Finals to compete for a cash prize. Viewers also see August Hopper, an older rider and the only girl competing at the World Finals.
4 Life Itself - 7.8
Life Itself is a documentary about renowned film critic Roger Ebert. The film is based on Ebert's 2011 memoir of the same name and focuses on his film criticism and his personal relationships. His relationships with fellow film critic Gene Siskel and screenwriter Russ Meyer (with whom he wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls) are particularly highlighted.
Ebert died mid-production and the film contains interviews from the final months of Ebert's life as well as interviews from other figures in the film industry.
3 Stevie - 7.9
Stevie is James' most personal work. The film concerns a person from James' own life, Stevie Fielding, a young boy James was an Advocate Big Brother for in the 1980s. James made the film as an attempt to reconnect with Stevie and understand what brought Stevie to his current situation, but an arrest midway through filming changed the tenor of the production.
The production spiraled into a four-year-long effort to document Stevie, his family, and their journey through the justice system, and showed how the family and James himself handled the situation.
2 The New Americans - 8.2
The New Americans is a sprawling, 411-minute documentary about the experience of immigrants and refugees to the United States. The film is primarily observational; there's little voice over and interview footage and the interviewers' voices are never heard.
Five groups of immigrants are profiled, with a different director handling each group. James focused on a family of Nigerian refugees who settle in Chicago over the course of four years.
1 Hoop Dreams - 8.3
Hoop Dreams tells the story of William Gates and Arthur Agee, two African American children who hope to eventually make the NBA. The pair both lived in Chicago's inner city; Gates lived in the Cabrini-Green public housing project and Agee lived in the West Garfield Park neighborhood.
However, they were recruited to play for St. Joseph High School in Westchester, a suburb 10 miles west of Agee and 16 miles of Gates. Gates and Agee must navigate their new environment in a predominantly white school as they struggle to improve their basketball skill. The film is a rare three-hour epic that justifies every second.