The Prairie Landscape

Board of Directors


Gordon Quinn


President
Kartemquin Films
1901 W Wellington Ave
Chicago, IL 60657-4029


Gordon Quinn

President and founding member of Kartemquin Films, has been making documentaries for over 39 years. Roger Ebert called his first film, Home for Life(1966) "an extraordinarily moving documentary." With Home for Life, Gordon established the direction he would take for the next three decades, making cinéma vêritê films that investigate and critique society. At Kartemquin, Quinn created a legacy that is an inspiration for young filmmakers and a home where they can make social-issues films documenting the unfolding lives of real people. Kartemquin's best-known film, Hoop Dreams (1994), executive produced by Quinn, was released theatrically to unprecedented critical acclaim. The film follows two inner-city high school basketball players for five years as they pursue their NBA dreams. His early work includes The Chicago Maternity Center Story (1976), about the struggle to save Chicago's historic neighborhood-based home delivery service, Taylor Chain I: Story In A Union Local (1980), Taylor Chain II: A Story of Collective Bargaining (1984), The Last Pullman Car(1983) and Golub (1990), a documentary on art, politics and the media, featuring American artist Leon Golub. Recent works winning acclaim include Stevie (2002), for which Quinn (who was the film's executive producer, producer, and cinematographer) won the cinematography award at the Sundance Film Festival, Five Girls(2001), Refrigerator Mothers(2002) and Vietnam Long Time Coming (1999), the story of disabled and able-bodied Vietnamese and American veterans brought together on a journey of reconciliation. The film, which was broadcast on NBC, won a National Emmy and the Director's Guild of America's award for Best Documentary. He executive produced The New Americans(2004) and directed the Palestinian segment of this intimate seven-hour PBS series that chronicles the journey taken by new immigrants to this country. Quinn has been a long-time supporter of national and community-based independent media groups, and served on the boards of several organizations including The National Coalition of Public Broadcast Producers and The Chicago Public Access Corporation. He earned a B.A. degree from the University of Chicago.