MUSE TV recently talked with director Steve James about his latest documentary on National Geographic City So Real. The 5-part docuseries airs October 29 at 7pm.
The Academy Award-nominated filmmakers fascinating and complex portrait of contemporary Chicago delivers a deep, multifaceted look into the soul of a quintessentially American city, set against the backdrop of its history-making 2019 mayoral election, and the tumultuous 2020 summer of COVID-19 and social upheaval following the police killing of George Floyd.
Steve James is a two-time Academy Award nominee who has earned four Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award nominations, winning for 1994’s “Hoop Dreams.” That film marked his first Oscar nomination (Best Film Editing), as well as an Independent Spirit Award win. James received his second Oscar nod (Best Documentary Feature) for 2016’s “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” which was named one of the National Board of Review’s “Top 5 Documentaries of the Year” and won Best Political Documentary at the Critics’ Choice Awards. James’ other notable credits include “Stevie,” an Independent Spirit Award and Sundance prize winner; “The Interrupters,” which won an Emmy, Independent Spirit Award and the duPont-Columbia Journalism Award; and the Roger Ebert biography “Life Itself,” named best documentary by the National Board of Review and the Producers Guild of America (PGA), as well as winning an Emmy for Best Editing. The director’s Starz docuseries “America to Me” premiered at Sundance and was one of the most acclaimed television shows of 2018.
For more information on the documentary film please visit https://films.nationalgeographic.com/citysoreal