It is the documentary filmmaking home of acclaimed producers such as Gordon Quinn (A Good Man), Steve James (Hoop Dreams), Peter Gilbert (Hoop Dreams; At the Death House Door), Maria Finitzo (Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita; In the Game), Joanna Rudnick (In the Family), Bing Liu (Minding the Gap), Aaron Wickenden (Almost There), and Ashley O’Shay (Unapologetic).
The organization was founded in 1966 by Gordon Quinn, Jerry Temaner and Stan Karter, three University of Chicago graduates who wanted to make documentary films guided by their principle of "Cinematic Social Inquiry".
After the dissolution of the collective, co-founders Gordon Quinn and Jerry Blumenthal (who died in late 2014) pushed the organization to its current model, producing high quality works that still had a political edge and mentoring a new generation of young documentary makers.
Kartemquin's best known film, the Oscar-nominated Hoop Dreams,[3] won several major critics prizes and journalism awards in 1995 and was named on over 150 "ten best" lists.
Filmmakers Steve James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx examined the complex role basketball plays in the lives of two inner-city high school players.
Other notable documentaries have included: The New Americans, a seven-hour miniseries for PBS that follows immigrant families from five different countries; Stevie; Refrigerator Mothers; 5 Girls; and Vietnam, Long Time Coming.
Films that were recently completed include Raising Bertie (2016), an intimate six year portrait of three African American boys growing into adulthood in rural North Carolina, exploring complex relationships between generational poverty, educational inequity, and race; In the Game(2015), examining the roles of Title IX legislation and a dedicated coach in the lives of U.S. female athletes through the story of a Chicago high school girls' soccer team; Almost There (2014) which follows the remarkable journey of two filmmakers and their relationship with an artist whose past hides a terrible secret; The Homestretch (2014), which follows three homeless teens in Chicago as they brave life alone on the streets, and Life Itself (2014) which recounts the surprising and entertaining life of world-renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert—a story that turns personal, wistful, funny, painful, and transcendent.
In 2013, Kartemquin released several highly regarded films including: On Beauty, which follows former fashion photographer Rick Guidotti, who after 15 years of working for clients such as Yves Saint Laurent, Elle, and Harpers Bazaar, grew tired of seeing the same ideal of beauty and who now works towards redefining the standards; American Arab, in which an Iraqi-American filmmaker explores the diverse experiences of people living as Arabs in the U.S.; The Trials of Muhammad Ali, which recounts legendary boxer Muhammad Ali's battle to overturn a five-year prison sentence he received for refusing U.S. military service during the Vietnam War.