Roger Joseph Ebert was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He was the film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. Ebert was known for his intimate, Midwestern writing style and critical views informed by values of populism and humanism. Writing in a prose style intended to be entertaining and direct, he made sophisticated cinematic and analytical ideas more accessible to non-specialist audiences. Ebert endorsed foreign and independent films he believed would be appreciated by mainstream viewers, championing filmmakers like Werner Herzog, Errol Morris and Spike Lee, as well as Martin Scorsese, whose first published review he wrote. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times said Ebert "was without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic," and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called him "the best-known film critic in America." Per The New York Times, "The force and grace of his opinions propelled film criticism into the mainstream of American culture. Not only did he advise moviegoers about what to see, but also how to think about what they saw."
Hoop Dreams is a 1994 American documentary film directed by Steve James, and produced by Frederick Marx, James, and Peter Gilbert, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students, William Gates and Arthur Agee, in Chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players.
Mon oncle Antoine is a 1971 French-language Canadian drama film directed by Claude Jutra for the National Film Board of Canada.
Fresh is a 1994 French/American independent crime drama film written and directed by Boaz Yakin in his directorial debut, and produced by Randy Ostrow and Lawrence Bender. It was scored by Stewart Copeland, a member of the Police. The story revolves around a preteen boy named Michael, nicknamed Fresh, who runs drugs for gangsters. Inspired by the chess lessons of his father, an alcoholic speed-chess master, Fresh devises and executes a brilliant plan to extricate himself and his drug-addicted sister from their hopeless lives.
Love Jones is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Theodore Witcher, in his feature film directing debut. The film stars Larenz Tate, Nia Long, Isaiah Washington, Bill Bellamy, and Lisa Nicole Carson.
Ruby in Paradise is a 1993 film written and directed by Victor Nunez, starring Ashley Judd, Todd Field, Bentley Mitchum, Allison Dean, and Dorothy Lyman. An homage to Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, the film is a character study about a young woman who escapes her small town in Tennessee for a new life in coastal Florida. The film marks Judd’s first starring role.
Man Push Cart is a 2005 American independent film by Ramin Bahrani that tells the story of a former Pakistani rock star who sells coffee and bagels from his pushcart on the streets of Manhattan.
Ramin Bahrani is an American director and screenwriter. Film critic Roger Ebert ranked Bahrani's Chop Shop (2007) as the sixth-best film of the 2000s, calling him "the new director of the decade". Bahrani was the recipient of the 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship. Bahrani is a professor of film directing at his alma mater, the Columbia University School of the Arts.
Son of Rambow is a 2007 comedy film written and directed by Garth Jennings and inspired by First Blood. The film premiered on 22 January 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. It was later shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Glasgow Film Festival. The film was also shown at the 51st BFI London Film Festival. Son of Rambow was released in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2008 and opened in limited release in the United States on 2 May 2008. Set over a summer during Thatcher's Britain, the film is a coming of age story about two schoolboys and their attempts to make an amateur film inspired by First Blood.
Armand Douglas Hammer is an American actor. He began his acting career with guest appearances in several television series. His first leading role was as Billy Graham in the 2008 film Billy: The Early Years and Hammer gained wider recognition for portraying the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in David Fincher's biopic The Social Network (2010).
James Rash is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He played Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2012.
LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton is a 2001 American documentary film directed by Deborah Dickson, Susan Froemke, and Albert Maysles. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 74th Academy Awards.
Patrick Creadon is an award-winning American filmmaker primarily known for his work in documentaries. His first film, Wordplay, profiled New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz and premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film screened in over 500 theatres nationwide and became the second-highest grossing documentary of that year. His second film, I.O.U.S.A., is a non-partisan examination of America's national debt problem and forecast the 2007–2008 financial crisis. I.O.U.S.A. premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was later named one of the Top 5 Documentaries of the Year by film critic Roger Ebert.
Lance Hammer is an American independent filmmaker.
Winter's Bone is a 2010 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Debra Granik. It was adapted by Granik and Anne Rosellini from the 2006 novel by Daniel Woodrell. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence as a poverty-stricken teenage girl named Ree Dolly in the rural Ozarks of Missouri who, to must locate her missing father to save her family from homelessness.
The Interrupters is a 2011 documentary film, produced by Kartemquin Films, that tells the story of three violence interrupters who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. It examines a year in which Chicago drew national headlines for violence and murder that plagued the city.
Laurie "Lol" Crawley is an English cinematographer. His works include Ballast, Four Lions, The Crimson Petal and the White, and The Brutalist.
The Spectacular Now is a 2013 American coming-of-age romantic drama film directed by James Ponsoldt, from a screenplay written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Tim Tharp. It stars Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley as high-schoolers Sutter and Aimee, whose unexpected encounter leads to a romance blossoming between the two. Brie Larson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Bob Odenkirk, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Kyle Chandler are featured in supporting roles.
Life Itself is a 2014 American biographical documentary film about Chicago film critic Roger Ebert, directed by Steve James and produced by Zak Piper, James and Garrett Basch. The film is based on Ebert's 2011 memoir of the same name. It premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the 67th Cannes Film Festival. The 41st Telluride Film Festival hosted a special screening of the film on August 28, 2014. Magnolia Pictures released the film theatrically in the United States and simultaneously via video on demand platforms on July 4, 2014.
On the Ice is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean. The film is set in Utqiagvik, Alaska, MacLean's home town, and follows two Iñupiaq teenagers who, while on a seal hunt, accidentally kill one of their friends in a fight. Afraid of the consequences, they lie about his death and must grapple with their grief and guilt while attempting to keep their secret. The film is based upon an earlier work of MacLean's, Sikumi, which he released as a short film in 2008. On the Ice had its world premiere on January 21, 2011, at the Sundance Film Festival.
