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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.
Apr 3, 2020 · “Hoop Dreams” began as a three-week project for PBS that would chronicle activity on outdoor basketball courts in inner-city Chicago. The storyline morphed in real-time. The producers, Steve...
- Documentaries Are Movies, Too
- Financial Success
- The Sports Explosion
- Generational Impact
When Steve James fell in love with film at an early age, he dismissed documentaries as dry and even preachy. “I associated documentaries with social issues—a kind of medicine one would take in classes,” he said. But through exposure to works like Harlan County, USA and the Up series, he realized the genre could wield as much drama as narrative film...
Hoop Dreams was not originally intended to be a movie. James and producers Frederick Marx and Peter Gilbert initially envisioned the project as a half-hour special on public television. “Documentaries just weren’t part of the theatrical business in any meaningful way,” James said. While notable exceptions included Madonna: Truth or Dare and Michael...
While sports movies like Hoosiers and Field of Dreams were immensely popular at the time of Hoop Dreams’filming, sports documentaries were scarce. “Documentaries that looked at sports in any way were just considered fluff and not of social importance,” James said. And though James, Gilbert and Marx shot the film from the perspective of basketball o...
Bing Liu was a young child when Hoop Dreams was released. He saw the film for the first time five years ago, and while watching it wasn’t a breakthrough moment for him like it was for Garbus, he began to realize how much it had influenced the norms of his filmmaking generation. James’ exhaustive longitudinal commitment—he shot for more than five ye...
Oct 13, 2023 · The Enduring Importance of Hoop Dreams. By Shahnaz Mahmud. Once in a while a rare film comes along that demonstrates cinematic storytelling at its absolute finest, shaking us to our core and encouraging us to think differently about the world we live in. 1994’s Hoop Dreams accomplished that — and so much more.
5 days ago · SLAM has and would celebrate a film such as Hoop Dreams no matter how old we or the film might be, but there’s special resonance that the movie is turning 30 this year just as we are. In ...
Oct 14, 2014 · Hoop Dreams is a morally complex film. For example, while Coach Pingatore's assurances to Arthur are reckless when one injury can ruin a career, at the same time it's clear he loves basketball and genuinely wants his students to succeed.
Jul 2, 2014 · In “Hoop Dreams,” the system of basketball, as a means to a better life outside a neighborhood not unlike my own growing up, affects Arthur and William profoundly.
