AltWeeklies Wire
From Iraq to Iowanew

With a little help from Kartemquin Films, Usama Alshaibi documents the Arab-American experience.
Chicago Reader |
Ed M. Koziarski |
08-09-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Usama Alshaibi, Kartemquin Films
Two Chicago Filmmakers Adapt Tom Frank's 'What's the Matter With Kansas?'new
Joe Winston and his wife, Laura Cohen, optioned the rights to Thomas Frank's best-selling book and began to ponder how they might turn the book into a documentary. "It's a brilliant book," says Cohen, but "there are no characters with arcs, and there's not really a plot."
Chicago Reader |
Andrea Gronvall |
09-01-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Jonathan Leyser Works to Finish the First Documentary on the Entire Life of William Burroughsnew

The 24-year-old is nearly finished with an ambitious assessment of perhaps the greatest literary outlaw of the 20th century.
Chicago Reader |
Ed M. Koziarski |
08-31-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Free Kick': Social Justice, With Soccernew
A Chilean filmmaker explores the Middle East conflict through the eyes of Palestinian footballers.
Chicago Reader |
Ed M. Koziarski |
04-07-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Free Kick, Marcelo Pina
The Long Road Back to the Big Screennew
After some early success, screenwriter and director Steven Conrad learned the hard way that living can make your art more interesting.
Chicago Reader |
Ed M. Koziarski |
03-10-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Steven Conrad, The Promotion
'The Merry Gentleman': A Job for Batmannew
When a ruptured appendix put Chicago director Ron Lazzeretti in the hospital, Michael Keaton stepped in to save the day. Now their project hits Sundance.
Chicago Reader |
Ed M. Koziarski |
01-22-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Joe Swanberg, the Starving Auteurnew
The New York Times may be hyping his movies, but "mumblecore" filmmaker is still struggling to pay the bills.
Chicago Reader |
Ed M. Koziarski |
10-22-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews