I admire the dedication of the film makers and of the families who appeared in the film. Film summary dreams serve varying purposes in our existence. It follows the story of two africanamerican high school students in chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players. The brady bunch movie, just cause, billy madison, mr.
When the filmmakers began, they planned to make a 30minute film about eighthgraders being recruited from innercity playgrounds to play for suburban schools. One of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of all time, hoop dreams is a rich, complex, heartbreaking, and ultimately deeply rewarding film that uses high school hoops as a jumpingoff point to explore issues of race, class, and education in modern america. It is about the texture and reality of daily existence in a big american city. Love it or hate it, the high school years help shape us into the people we are today. The film earned james the directors guild of america award and the mtv movie award for best new filmmaker.
He is an actor, known for hoop dreams 1994, early edition 1996 and hoop dreams reunion 1995. Its the most fascinating account of the lives and careers of two potential basketball stars, who were selected at the. The film has been called the best sports documentary ever, and consistently is rated in top 20 best ever lists. He was named a chicago tribune artist of the year for 1994, a 1995 guggenheim fellow, and a recipient of a robert f. And despite being famously snubbed by the oscar committee, it is the most successful and critically acclaimed documentary in american history, roger ebert wrote in 1995 obviously prior to michael moores blockbusters. Hoop dreams 1994 has the form of a sports documentary, but along the way it becomes a revealing and heartbreaking story about life in america. But its also a moving and revealing look at the daytoday struggles of two lowincome families living in the projects of chicago.
When arthur agee, the films other reallife protagonist or me made a. Full of unexpected turns, hoop dreams ends with gates and agee. The film chronicles the coming of age of arthur agee and william. Steves first film hoop dreams won every major critics award in 1994, as well as a peabody and robert f. Throughout the film, there is abundant footage of energetic, intense basketball playing being used to appeal to the targeted young audience. Hoop dreams in our writers favourite films series, christian bennett explains why the story of two teenagers aiming to make it big in basketball is a.
Hoop dreams is a richly human and profoundly american film. The films themes of hope, pain and redemption, its creeping sense that the deck is just stacked against some kids those are even more. Filmed over a fiveyear period, hoop dreams, by steve james, frederick marx, and peter gilbert, follows young arthur agee and william gates and their families as the boys navigate the complex, competitive world of scholastic athletics while dealing. Hoop dreams is 20 years old this year, but its eternal. He has since then become one of the most acclaimed documentary makers of his generation, with noted works being stevie, the new americans, the war tapes, at the death house door, the interrupters, life itself, and most recently the 2018. Feb 28, 2015 heres the opening for the 1995 vhs of hoop dreams and heres the order. Recently, hoop dreams was selected for the library of congress national film registry. Jan 07, 2016 hoop dreams is a documentary that comes with a reputation and it deserves it. This is the trailer to hoop dreams, the movie that. Hoops dreams went on to win a slew of film awards, including the 1995 chicago film critics association award for best picture, as well as the. Hoop dreams is a great documentary film because it deals more with life. Arthur agee 22 and william gates 23 from the award winning documentary film hoop dreams, shared a common goal of aspiring to play professional basketball in the nba.
The movie made me laugh, cry, cheer, and applaud for arthur agee and william gates. Dec 05, 2012 to me the power of the film is the stark reality of the lives of the people portrayed in hoop dreams. First exhibited at the 1994 sundance film festival, where it won the audience award for best documentary, hoop dreams has been hailed as the great american documentary and. Two ordinary innercity chicago kids dare to reach for the impossibleprofessional basketball gloryin this epic chronicle of hope and faith. Jan 15, 2014 hoop dreams is 20 years old this year, but its eternal. Hoop dreams in our writers favourite films series, christian bennett explains why the story of two teenagers aiming to make it big in basketball is a slam dunk of a documentary. And as the film follows agee and gates through high school and into their first year of college, we understand all of the human dimensions behind the easy media images of life in the ghetto. A film like hoop dreams is what the movies are for. Twenty years after the landmark documentary was cruelly snubbed at the. Family pictures are used to bring outside information into the story of the two young boys, arthur and william, that accounts for time. In its unflinching portrait of innercity life, hoop dreams is as much a social commentary on class privilege and race division as it is a film about basketball and presents the audience with a lasting deconstruction of the american dream.
It is one of the highest grossing nonmusical documentaries in united states. Hoop dreams is a 1994 american documentary film directed and produced by steve james. But its also a moving and revealing look at the daytoday struggles of two. It takes us, shakes us, and make us think in new ways about the world around us. When the critically acclaimed hoop dreams premiered at the new york film festival last year. It is real, raw, exciting, emotional, and powerful. Hoop dreams a documentary about the everlasting dreams of many young boys becoming an nba pro, for many also a dream of getting out of the ghetto, and to buy your dad a cadillac. Joseph high school in westchester, illinois, a predominately white suburban school wellknown for the excellence of its basketball program. William gates was born on december 28, 1971 in chicago, illinois, usa. For this new remaster, criterion has gone back to the betacam source and created an hd master of the movie, which is presented here in its original aspect ratio of 1.
Pingatore, whose alumni include isiah thomas, a star in the national basketball association nba. Steve james essential innercity epic chronicles the lives of two young blacks growing up in a chicago housing project. A hoop dreams reunion will reveal what has happened in the lives of agee and gates since the conclusion of the film. When the film starts, both arthur and william are ninth graders from the inner city. Hoop dreams painstakingly tempers the romanticism characteristic high school athletes by paying special attention to the many roadblocks that stand in the way of gates and agees dreams. It premiered 1994 at sundance film festival where it won the audience award for best documentary.
Hoop dreams reunion 1995 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Movie talk a discussion area for everything movie related including films in the theaters. Hoop dreams screens in a newly restored digital master. Two ordinary innercity chicago kids dare to reach for the impossible professional basketball glory in this epic chronicle of hope and faith.
Rhetorical analysis of hoop dreams by naomi ruffin on prezi. However, when a phenomenon comes along such as the film hoop dreams. Hoop dreams movie subject charged with battery of woman the. Hoop dreams is a 3hour documentary filmed between 1986 and 1991. Hoop dreams is a chronicle of the power of sports to fuel dreams and generate possibility in the great struggle of life. And with all the hormones, the troublemaking, the misplaced sense of entitlement, the confusion, and sexual. It comes up frequently in conversation with other documentary filmmakers. One of the most acclaimed and successful documentaries ever, hoop dreams tells the story of arthur agee, william gates, and their families over a 4. Some are fanciful, some fill us with hope, some push us onwards in our darker days, and some offer a vision of escape in an otherwise desperate, deadend situation. He even started a hoop dreams clothing line in the mid2000s with the. It follows the story of two africanamerican high school students in chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players originally intended to be a 30minute short film produced for the public broadcasting service, it eventually led. Maybe not so much a story about basketball, but still one of the most powerful sports. This heartfelt and affecting film follows two teenagers chasing scholarships that hold out the chance of a. On another level, it is about much larger subjects.
Roger ebert on hoop dreams encyclopedia of chicago. Rent hoop dreams 1994 on dvd and bluray dvd netflix. Also known as aka original title hoop dreams reunion. One of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of all time, hoop dreams is a rich, complex, heartbreaking, and ultimately deeply rewarding film that uses high.
Memorable quotes and exchanges from movies, tv series and more. Hoop dreams is a compelling documentary which follows the life of two young basketball stars from chicago, arthur agee and william gates. For nearly five years arthur agees and william gates remarkable lives were chronicled by a team of filmmakers. Hoop dreams original motion picture soundtrack 1994, cd. Frederick marx achieved international fame for a film he cowrote hoop dreams with steve james the director of the film.
Post jobs, find pros, and collaborate commissionfree in our professional marketplace. Airing for the first time on television wednesday night on pbs, the threehour hoop dreams is a trenchant film about the rigors and politics involved in bigtime high school basketball. In simplest terms, its a 3hour documentary that focuses on two kids in chicago, both of them loving nothing more than playing basketball. Vpro cinema speurt elke week het filmaanbod van streamingsdienst netflix af en. Filmed over a fiveyear period, hoop dreams follows young arthur agee and william gates as they navigate the complex, competitive world of scholastic athletics while striving to overcome the intense pressures of family life and the realities of their chicago streets. Hoop dreams is, on one level, a documentary about two africanamerican kids named william gates and arthur agee, from chicagos inner city, who are gifted basketball players and dream of someday starring in the nba. First exhibited at the 1994 sundance film festival, where it won the audience award for best documentary, kartemquins hoop dreams is the remarkable true story of two american dreamers. It is at once an allegory about striving to achieve, and the politics and pressures of achievement. First exhibited at the 1994 sundance film festival, where it won the audience award for best documentary, hoop dreams is the remarkable true story of two american dreamers. Michael wilmington, the dreams team, chicago tribune january 1, 1995. Kenya, cuba, republic of, congo, democratic republic of the, kiribati, lesotho, zambia, reunion, cape verde islands.
He has since then become one of the most acclaimed documentary makers of his generation, with noted works being stevie, the new americans, the war tapes, at the death house door, the interrupters, life itself, and most. This movie provides an excellent way for families to talk about issues such as race and class in urban america, longterm goals, teen sex and drug use, and. William goes to an elite private school known for producing nba basketball great isiah thomas. Every school day, africanamerican teenagers william gates and arthur agee travel 90 minutes each way from innercity chicago to st. With william gates, arthur agee, emma gates, curtis gates. Hoop dreams the problem with documentary as a form is that it invites loosely. Heres the opening for the 1995 vhs of hoop dreams and heres the order. Fargo, and its exclusion from the best documentary category at the 1995. Hoop dreams reunion 1995 does anybody have any information on this. Hoop dreams is a 1994 american documentary film directed and produced by steve james, frederick marx, and peter gilbert, with kartemquin films. Rent hoop dreams 1994 starring william gates and arthur agee on dvd and bluray.
The film focuses on the high school experiences of two african american teenagers. A film following the lives of two innercity chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional. That even in less than optimal situations the power to dream is what fuels peoples lives. Hoop dreams is now available in bluray and dvd special editions from the criterion collection. It gives us the impression of having touched life itself. Roughly 250 hours of film were devoted to their journeys from the playgrounds to high school competition to college recruitment and whittled down to three hours it became the awardwinning film hoop dreams. Hoop dreams was originally shot on video and then transferred to 35mm film for its theatrical exhibition back in 1994 remember, there were no digital theaters back then. Filmed over a fiveyear period, hoop dreams, by steve james, frederick marx, and peter gilbert follows young arthur agee and william gates as they navigate the complex, competitive world of scholastic athletics while dealing with the intense pressures of. Hoop reality is the sequel to the 1994 documentary hoop dreams and explores what happened during the last decade from where hoop dreams left off. An oscarnominated film and one of the most widely discussed and wellreceived documentaries of the decade, hoop dreams chronicles the universal process of. Him and kevin macdonald are my two favorite doc filmmakers because they can actually direct a feature also. With james brown, arthur agee, william gates, peter gilbert.