Studs Terkel

Algren will spotlight the hard-knock life and authentic creative legacy of one of the most underrated writers of the twentieth century, Nelson Algren. Algren's brutally honest portrayal of the American underclass and his hard-nosed lifestyle became his pathway to compassion. Through interviews with Algren contemporaries, experts, and "literary soulmates," as well as through the photography of Algren's friends, Art Shay and Stephen Deutch, the film will tell his story. It will celebrate his tremendous contribution to and influence on American letters, and push Algren, champion of the marginalized, out from the margins.

For over 60 years, Studs Terkel elevated the voices and experiences of everyday Americans through his skillful interviews on radio, in books and on TV. This documentary takes a fond and illuminating look back at one of America's most influential authors and media personalities whose curiosity about people never dimmed over the course of a long and brilliant career.

Quearborn & Perversion: An Early History of Lesbian & Gay Chicago (2009, 109 min) is a documentary on LGBTQ life in Chicago from 1934 to 1974. Moving from the speakeasys and Henry Gerber’s founding of the Society for Human Rights in the 1930s, to the underground social structure of the 1940s and 1950s, to the dawn of consciousness-raising entities such as the Daughters of Bilitis and Mattachine Midwest in the 1960’s, and concluding with the emergence of the gay liberation movement with the first Pride March and opening of the first community center in the early 1970s.

On May 8th, 1945, writer, director Norman Corwin broadcast ON A NOTE OF TRIUMPH, an unforgettable homage to the end of war in Europe. This film shines a light on a lost work of genius, and examines it's haunting resonance to today's current events.

The story of Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight boxing champion.

When twenty-six-year-olds Shainee Gabel and Kristin Hahn quit their Hollywood jobs, packed up a borrowed car and hit the road, it was with the deeply felt conviction that somewhere, shrouded in the din of talk shows and tabloid headlines, they'd discover the real America, alive and well in all of its regions and demographics.

Documentary narrated by Paul Winfield, this documentary follows the course of Mahalia Jackson's extraordinary life - from her humble beginnings as a sickly child singing in New Orleans churches to her breakthrough with Columbia Records and her ascendancy to Carnegie Hall and Europe's great stages. Her story's told through archival footage and interviews with those who knew her best.

A PBS documentary on the life and work of writer Raymond Carver. It features interviews with his family and friends, and provides an insightful look at his short stories and poems.

Harry Bridges: A Man and his Union chronicles the life of one of America's most important and controversial left-wing labor leader. He headed the International Longshoremen and Warehouseman Union from the 1930's to the 1970's and was a champion of workers' causes on an international scale. Harry Bridges (July 28, 1901 - March 30, 1990) was controversial as he was charismatic. He was prosecuted by FDR, Truman and Eisenhower alike, and convicted by a federal jury for having lied about Communist Party membership-a conviction which was set aside. On the West Coast, Bridges still excites passions both for and against the labor movement.

The world-famous Greyhound bus is almost as old as the Wild West. It is a symbol of North America, of progress, and of nostalgia. Reporter Stud Terkel travelled 2,000 miles across the United States by Greyhound. From Seattle to Chicago, he observes his fellow-passengers. He meets a number of travelers who appear to be very interesting people: a Native American boxer on his way to his birthplace in Montana, a bar owner who was a bank robber in a former 'career', a 99 year old woman who is still running a busy hotel, and, of course, a pedigree cowboy. The spectator of this film listens to their personal stories, watches the beautiful scenery, and is treated to famous feature film fragments in which the Greyhound bus plays a part. Seven states and two time zones later, he is back in his cinema seat.

В 1919 году чикагская бейсбольная команда White Sox проигрывает чемпионат. Два года спустя обнаруживается, что сделано это было нечестным путём и на команду подают иск. В процессе расследования раскрывается механизм давления на бейсбольных игроков.

During World War II, hard-luck farmer Colvis Nevels leaves his rural Kentucky home to take a factory job in bustling Detroit. Reluctantly accompanying Colvis is his long-suffering wife, Gertie, a talented woodcarver set in her traditional ways. When the perils of city life and Colvis' reckless squandering of money send the Nevels into precarious financial straits, Gertie starts a business making hand-carved dolls in order to provide for her family.

This documentary examines the experiences of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, using interviews with survivors more than 50 years later. First, the film sets the context with the rise of Fascism. Then, in 1936, Spain's military revolts against the elected government, and the U.S. and Europe agree not to intervene. In response, volunteers snuck past border guards into Spain to fight with the Republicans. The men and women veterans describe the perils of reaching Spain, limited training, responsibilities of command thrust on the very young, deprivations of a soldier's life, lack of matériel, horrible rates of casualties, and ultimate vindication at the end of World War II.

This musical adaptation of the Studs Terkel book examines the average worker's viewpoint--showing that he or she is anything but average. Based on a series of interviews with real working people--construction workers, waitresses, firemen, secretaries, and cleaning women, Working is both an exploration of the individuals' occupations and a lament for lost hopes and dreams.

This musical adaptation of the Studs Terkel book examines the average worker's viewpoint--showing that he or she is anything but average. Based on a series of interviews with real working people--construction workers, waitresses, firemen, secretaries, and cleaning women, Working is both an exploration of the individuals' occupations and a lament for lost hopes and dreams.

Harley Cokeliss's Chicago Blues filmed in 1972 was a remarkable film; remarkable in that it was not just a competent documentary but a film crafted with care by professionals with a love and understanding of music and a respect for its history and artists. The music and its artists of Chicago Blues reflect faithfully the structure of the city's Blues activity of the late '60s from unknown amateur to world famous stars, from house to small bar, from traditional down home to modern city style. Thus Johnny Lewis, a housepainter who played for his own amusement at home and was almost a discovery of the film team, to Muddy Waters, Chicago Blues' most famous figure.