Kartemquin Films Announces 20th Anniversary Screenings Of Newly Restored 'Hoop Dreams'

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 16, 2014 5:30PM

A still of Arthur Agee in Hoop Dreams. (© 1994 New Line Cinema. All rights reserved.)

Kartemquin Films will screen the restored version of its legendary 1994 documentary Hoop Dreams to celebrate the film's 20th anniversary. The two Chicago screenings take place next month at the Gene Siskel Film Center on Saturday, December 13, and Tuesday, December 16.

Other nationwide screenings include dates in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle, amongst other cities.

The restored version of Hoop Dreams premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, where, in its original iteration, the film won the audience award for best documentary.

Despite the film's ecstatic reviews, including from Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, who both praised the film highly, Hoop Dreams wasn't even nominated for the Best Documentary category at that year's Academy Awards ceremony. (Oscar host David Letterman hit hard at the Academy with a particularly stinging zinger. Karemquin would, many years later, feel a strong sense of déjà vu when its documentary The Interrupters was snubbed by the Oscars yet again, despite rave reviews from audiences and critics alike.)

Oscar snubs aside, Hoop Dreams is a documentary classic, full stop, and essential viewing for anyone who has ever considered Chicago home. The film, shot carefully over the course of five years, details the aspirations and struggles of two Chicago youths, Arthur Agee and William Gates, as they try to reach their dreams of playing professional basketball.

Agee, along with filmmaker Steve James, will be present at both screenings. Watch video below comparing and contrasting the original video with the newly restored version.

Tickets for the Chicago screenings can be purchased here.