Steve James

Directing

Steve James

Born

1958-03-08 (68)

Place of birth

Hampton, Virginia, USA

Known for

Directing

Credits

40 titles

Steve James is an American film producer and director of several documentaries, including the award-winning Hoop Dreams and Stevie. He is also the director of the 1997 feature film Prefontaine. His newest film, The Interrupters, a portrayal of a year inside the lives of former gang members in Chicago who now intervene in violent conflicts, will be released in 2011 after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. The film is his sixth feature length collaboration with his long-time filmmaking home, the non-profit Chicago production studio Kartemquin Films, and is also his fifth feature to be accepted into the Sundance Film Festival. He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale,…

Known for

Reel Paradise poster
6.7

Former indie film "guru" John Pierson takes his family to Fiji for one year to run the world's most remote movie theater.

Reel Paradise

2005

Heartbeats poster
7.1

Francis is a young gay man, Marie is a young straight woman and the two of them are best friends -- until the day the gorgeous Nicolas walks into a Montreal coffee shop. The two friends, instantly and equally infatuated, compete for Nicolas' indeterminate affections, a conflict that climaxes when the trio visit the vacation home of Nicolas' mother. The frothy comedy unfolds through narrative, fantasy sequences and confessional monologues.

Heartbeats

2010

These Amazing Shadows poster
7.4

Tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself.

These Amazing Shadows

2011

Prefontaine poster
6.6

It's the true-life story of legendary track star Steve Prefontaine, the exciting and sometimes controversial "James Dean of Track," whose spirit captured the heart of the nation! Cocky, charismatic, and tough, "Pre" was a running rebel who defied rules, pushed limits ... and smashed records ...

Prefontaine

1997

Hoop Dreams poster
7.6

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Hoop Dreams

1994

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson poster
6.9

Director Steve James returns to his home town of Hampton, Virginia to tell the story of how the trial of a young basketball star left a city divided.

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson

2010

Film credits

2010s · 4 titles

Behind the camera

Reel Paradise poster
6.7

Former indie film "guru" John Pierson takes his family to Fiji for one year to run the world's most remote movie theater.

Reel Paradise

2005

Reel Paradise poster
6.7

Former indie film "guru" John Pierson takes his family to Fiji for one year to run the world's most remote movie theater.

Reel Paradise

2005

Prefontaine poster
6.6

It's the true-life story of legendary track star Steve Prefontaine, the exciting and sometimes controversial "James Dean of Track," whose spirit captured the heart of the nation! Cocky, charismatic, and tough, "Pre" was a running rebel who defied rules, pushed limits ... and smashed records ...

Prefontaine

1997

Prefontaine poster
6.6

It's the true-life story of legendary track star Steve Prefontaine, the exciting and sometimes controversial "James Dean of Track," whose spirit captured the heart of the nation! Cocky, charismatic, and tough, "Pre" was a running rebel who defied rules, pushed limits ... and smashed records ...

Prefontaine

1997

Hoop Dreams poster
7.6

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Hoop Dreams

1994

Hoop Dreams poster
7.6

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Hoop Dreams

1994

Hoop Dreams poster
7.6

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Hoop Dreams

1994

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson poster
6.9

Director Steve James returns to his home town of Hampton, Virginia to tell the story of how the trial of a young basketball star left a city divided.

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson

2010

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson poster
6.9

Director Steve James returns to his home town of Hampton, Virginia to tell the story of how the trial of a young basketball star left a city divided.

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson

2010

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson poster
6.9

Director Steve James returns to his home town of Hampton, Virginia to tell the story of how the trial of a young basketball star left a city divided.

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson

2010

Life Itself poster
7.5

The surprising and entertaining life of renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert (1942-2013): his early days as a freewheeling bachelor and Pulitzer Prize winner, his famously contentious partnership with Gene Siskel, his life-altering marriage, and his brave and transcendent battle with cancer.

Life Itself

2014

Life Itself poster
7.5

The surprising and entertaining life of renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert (1942-2013): his early days as a freewheeling bachelor and Pulitzer Prize winner, his famously contentious partnership with Gene Siskel, his life-altering marriage, and his brave and transcendent battle with cancer.

Life Itself

2014

Joe and Max poster
5.1

True story of boxers Joe Louis and Max Schmeling and their enduring friendship.

Joe and Max

2002

The Interrupters poster
6.8

The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters — former gang members who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once caused.

The Interrupters

2011

The Interrupters poster
6.8

The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters — former gang members who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once caused.

The Interrupters

2011

A Compassionate Spy poster
6.2

Physicist Ted Hall is recruited to join the Manhattan Project as a teenager and goes to Los Alamos with no idea what he'll be working on. When he learns the true nature of the weapon being designed, he fears the post-war risk of a nuclear holocaust and begins to pass significant information to the Soviet Union.

A Compassionate Spy

2022

A Compassionate Spy poster
6.2

Physicist Ted Hall is recruited to join the Manhattan Project as a teenager and goes to Los Alamos with no idea what he'll be working on. When he learns the true nature of the weapon being designed, he fears the post-war risk of a nuclear holocaust and begins to pass significant information to the Soviet Union.

A Compassionate Spy

2022

Passing Glory poster
6.0

A true story of a priest (Andre Braugher) in New Orleans who formed a group of black players and challenged an all-white prep school basketball team in the 1960's. Eventually events like these signaled the pivotal turn in the games' history leading to the integration in today's sport. Directed by Steve James (Hoop Dreams), these basketball players didn't just make shots, they made history.

Passing Glory

1999

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail poster
6.7

The incredible saga of the Chinese immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York. Accused of mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., Abacus becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend themselves – and their bank’s legacy in the Chinatown community – over the course of a five-year legal battle.

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

2017

No artwork available
NR

Greg O'Brien, long-time Cape Cod reporter and newspaperman, has been diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's. Acting on instinct and journalistic grit, Greg has decided to face down the disease and his imminent decline by writing frankly about the journey.

A Place Called Pluto

2014

No artwork available
NR

Greg O'Brien, long-time Cape Cod reporter and newspaperman, has been diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's. Acting on instinct and journalistic grit, Greg has decided to face down the disease and his imminent decline by writing frankly about the journey.

A Place Called Pluto

2014

We the Economy: 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss poster
7.0

Everyone’s talking about it, but who can explain it? Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Productions and Morgan Spurlock’s Cinelan have partnered to produce WE THE ECONOMY 20 Short Films You Can’t Afford to Miss. Each film is helmed by an acclaimed filmmaker, each with their own creative vision. The series aims to drive awareness and establish a better understanding of the U.S. economy. Told through animation, comedy, musical, non-fiction, and scripted films, WE THE ECONOMY seeks to demystify a complicated topic while empowering the public to take control of their own economic futures.

We the Economy: 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss

2014

At the Death House Door poster
5.3

An investigation of the wrongful death of Carlos DeLuna, who was executed in Texas on December 7, 1989, after prosecutors ignored evidence inculpating a man, who bragged to friends about committing the crimes of which DeLuna was convicted.

At the Death House Door

2008

Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas poster
NR

Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas is an award-winning series of 30 three-minute stories about innovators—people who are reshaping the world through act or invention—directed by the world's most celebrated documentary filmmakers.

Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas

2012

Life After Hoop Dreams poster
6.0

This forty-minute program was produced by the Criterion Collection in 2014

Life After Hoop Dreams

2015

No artwork available
NR

Why is minimum wage important? In 2013, Seattle became ground zero for the heated national debate about increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour. "The Value of Work" gives voice to supporters and the opponents, including the mayor, an activist city councilwoman, small business owners, and minimum-wage workers affected by the unprecedented legislation.

The Value of Work

—

Stevie poster
7.0

In 1995 Director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) returned to rural Southern Illinois to reconnect with Stevie Fielding, a troubled young boy he had been an 'Advocate Big Brother' to ten years earlier.

Stevie

2003

No artwork available
NR

An educational companion piece to Hoop Dreams, Higher Goals features NBA star Isiah Thomas in a fast-paced, entertaining PBS special that encourages young athletes to put their dreams of professional sports in perspective and focus on getting an education.

Higher Goals

1992

No artwork available
NR

An educational companion piece to Hoop Dreams, Higher Goals features NBA star Isiah Thomas in a fast-paced, entertaining PBS special that encourages young athletes to put their dreams of professional sports in perspective and focus on getting an education.

Higher Goals

1992

No artwork available
NR

An educational companion piece to Hoop Dreams, Higher Goals features NBA star Isiah Thomas in a fast-paced, entertaining PBS special that encourages young athletes to put their dreams of professional sports in perspective and focus on getting an education.

Higher Goals

1992

Head Games poster
6.9

Former football player and wrestler Chris Nowinski's quest to publicize recent findings about the often dire consequences of head concussions sustained by athletes in contact sports — injuries that have previously been considered momentary setbacks and ignored in the name of toughness and dedication to the team.

Head Games

2012

Head Games poster
6.9

Former football player and wrestler Chris Nowinski's quest to publicize recent findings about the often dire consequences of head concussions sustained by athletes in contact sports — injuries that have previously been considered momentary setbacks and ignored in the name of toughness and dedication to the team.

Head Games

2012

The New Americans poster
NR

Four years in the lives of a diverse group of contemporary immigrants and refugees as they journey to start new lives in America.

The New Americans

2003

Grassroots Chicago poster
9.0

A documentary about neighborhood people creating change. Produced for the MacArthur Foundation by Kartemquin Films, this piece features six vignettes on community organizing in different Chicago neighborhoods: LeClaire Courts, Marquette Park, Roseland, Pilsen, Uptown, Rogers Park and Garfield Park.

Grassroots Chicago

1991