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KTQ Labs

KTQ Labs is a works in progress session through where filmmakers can share their documentary with members of the KTQ Community to receive feedback and critique.

The service is free and invites attendance for up to (2) members of the key creative film team to the Labs discussion and a follow-up feedback session with a member of KTQ staff or a consulting editor from the KTQ community at no cost.

We welcome multiple formats for presentation and feedback at KTQ Labs, including pitch materials, demos, scene selects, single acts, rough cuts, and even personal reels.

Eligibility

Filmmakers who have a first or second rough cut of a documentary film (feature, short, or series). We try to prioritize program alumni, midwestern filmmakers or midwestern stories, BIPOC filmmakers, and womxn filmmakers.

Past Participants

2023

Birder by the Lake, dir. Erika Valenciana;

2022

First Voice Generation, dir. Cynthia Martinez; Searching for Sparrows, dir. Laj P. Waghray; Memories of 2019, dir. Yi Chen;

2021

The Sebastopol Siege, dir. Mimi Wilcox; Idols, dir. Brian Lu; Life of Mind, dir. Martin Awano; Are There Not 12 Hours in a Day?, dir. Rita Carmona;

2020

1 Angry Man, dir. Suja Thomas;

2019

Memphis, dir. David Zucker; 88.3 FM & The Voice of the People, dir. J.T Tarpley; Mr. Rugoff, dir. Ira Deutchman; Head to Head dir. Andrea Alberti, prod. Katy Osborn; Wet House dir. Benjamin May; Hamtramck, USA dir/prod. Razi Jafri & Justin Feltman; Project: Building Hope dir/prod. Cam Be, prod. Priya Shah; Until the Lion Speaks dir. Bing Liu & Josh Altman; First Vote dir. Yi Chen; A Tiny Ripple of Hope dr. Jason Polevoi; Role Play dir/pro. Katie Mathews; Nobody Should Know dir/pro. Andrea Eiseman

2018

The Field, dir: Tom Desch; Last Man Fishing, dir. JD Schuyler; How to Build a School in Haiti, dir. Jack Newell; A Destruction, dir. Urooj Yazdani; Finding Yingying, dir. Jiayan “Jenny” Shi; After the Fire, dir. Derek Knowles & Spencer Seibert; Queen of the Battling Butterly Brigade, dir. Daniel Hymanson, prod. Kellen Quinn; Float, dir. Phillip Kibbe, prod. Benjamin Saks & Laura Heberton; Copperdog, dir/pro. Anu Rana & Laurie Little; Will I Be Next, dir. Melissa Godoy, prod. Therese Barry-Tanner; Hayden & Her Family, dir. May M. Tchao; Five Shots, dir. Mina Fitzpatrick

2017

Rukus, dir. Brett Hanover; Born in the Struggle, dir. Kamasai Hill; Pat Shaw Was Romeo 9, dir. Jonathan Spangler; The Area , dir. David Schalliol; Uninsurable , dir. Clare Austen-Smith; Kali Yuga Chants , dir. Nilima Abrams; We Come From Gary and Accident, dir. Dan Rybicky; Grace, dir. Rachel Pikelny; ReeLabs at the Chicago Reel Abilities Film Festival, various directors; G. Force, dir. Pamela Sherrod Anderson; Seasons of Change on Henry’s Farm, dir. Ines Sommer; Midnight Family, dir. Luke Lorentzen; ¡Las Sandinistas! dir. Jenny Murray; Unteachable, dir. Shuling Yong; The Blue Wall, dir. Richard Rowley

2016

Paper Mountain Shredders, dir. Alex Houston; Bei Bei, dirs. Marion​ Lipschutz​ and Rose​ Rosenblatt; Little Stones dir. Sophie Kruz; We Are Columbine dir. Laura Farber; Two Together dir. Mina Fitzpatrick; Man Re-Made, dir. Justin Masouf; A Shot in the Dark dir. Dustin Nakao-Haider; The Blood is at the Doorstep dir. Erik Ljung; Caviar Dreams dirs. Liv Dubendorf, Brian Gersten, Wei Ying; Home Truth dirs. Katia Hayes and April Maguire; Ground War dir. Andrew Nisker; Edith and Eddie dir. Laura Checkoway; Quest dir. Jon Olshefski

2015

The Summer Help, dir. Melody Gilbert; Minding the Gap, dir. Bing Liu; Among Wolves, dir. Shawn Convey; I Voted?, dir. Jason Grant Smith; Farmer Veteran, dirs. Alexandra (Alix) Blair, Jeremy Lange, DL Anderson, Mikel Barton; The Work at Lake Volta, dir. Jacob Hurwitz-Goodman; Strange Attractors, dir. Julia Landau; The Invisible Patients, dir. Patrick O’Connor; The Prison in 12 Landscapes, dir. Brett Story

2014

Last of the Lawsonomists, dirs. Susan Kerns and Ryan Sarnowski; Skate or Die, dir. Ryan Ferguson; City of Trees, dirs. Lance and Brandon Kramer; Samantha’s Amazing Acro-Cats, dir. Jacob Fering; Closed for Good, dir. Rachel Dickson; Diary of a Cyborg, dir. Jackie Todd; Transformers: The Premake, dir. Kevin B. Lee; The Area , dirs. Brian Ashby and David Schalliol; Foreign Puzzle, dir. Chithra Jeyaram; South Chicago: In Progress, dir. David Granskog; Daddy’s Going to Prison, dir. Brit Williams; Monster in the Mind, dir. Jean Carper; Sense of Place, dir. Mary Scherer; An American House, dir. Chris Trani

2013

Your Name is My Name, dir. Peter Gelassi; The English Summer Sportswriter, dir. Patrick Lile; Swing Low, dir. Doug Clark; Buddhas of Mes Aynak, dir. Brent Huffman; Cotton Road, dir. Laura Kissel; Zhashagi (Echo Maker), dir. Steve Zieverink; Ole Miss, dir. Danielle Beverly; American Diner, dir. Isaac Wilhelm; Ty’s List, dir. Ben Prawer; Birth of a Voter, dir. Wongjung Bae; Body (the) Image, dir. Hillary Bachelder; Remember Me Sue, dir. Melina Kolb; Bending Toward The Light , dir. Brad Pruitt

2012

The Intimidator, dir. Jim Quattrocki; I Saw the Children Gather, dir. Cheryl Mitchell; Jens Jensen, dir. Carey Lundin; Zuluhoops, dir. Kristin Pischaske; Dancing with NED, dir. Andrea Kalin; How to Build a School in Haiti, dir. Jack Newell; Spilled Water (formerly Rise of the Phoenix), dir. May Tchao; Martin Luther King in Jerusalem, dir. Connie Field; Hairy Who & The Chicago Imagists, dirs. Brian Ashby & Leslie Buchbinder; Sleepover, dir. Lajwanti Waghray; Independent for Governor – An Idealist’s Grueling Run in Razorback Nation, dir. Huixia Lu

2011

Peace Has No Borders, dir. Dennis Mueller; White, Black, and Blues, dir. John Anderson; I am the Queen, dir. Henrique Cirne-lima; The Believers, dir. Clayton Brown; My Father’s Hidden World, dirs. Ebsan Ghoreshi & Rebecca Solomon; Sifuna Okwethu (We Want What’s Ours), dir. Kevin Fullam; Voices of the Adhan: Cairo, dir. Anna Kipervaser; Grass Widow / Sod Widow, dir. Sara Peak Convery; Solo Madres: Stories of the Families Left Behind, dir. Todd Looby; Rehab for Squirrels, dir. Tristan Hanson; For the Love of His Lamp, dir. Quinlan Kyp Johnson

2010

Undocumented, Unafraid , dir. Taras Berezowsky; Eighteen to Life | Making a Murderer, dir. Laura Ricciardi; Float, dir. Phil Kibbe; The Parent Project, dir. Dinesh Sabu; Divide, dir. Maura Ugarte; Veins in the Gulf, dirs. Ted Hardin & Elizabeth Coffman; Jerry and Me, dir. Mehrnaz Saeed Vafa; Fever Year, dir. Xan Aranda; The Gluten Free Evolution, dir. Nancy Perlman; Sifuna Okwethu (We Want What’s Ours: Land Restitution in South Africa), dir. Bernadette Atuahene; Chess Hustlers, dir. Ethan Barnowsky; Bike Film, dir. Emily Thomas; Beyond the Drive, dir. Shuling Yong; David Simpson Film, dir. Lesley Onstott; Tony and Janina’s American Wedding, dir. Ruth Leitman

2009

Louder Than A Bomb, dirs. Jon Siskel and Greg Jacobs; Mark My Words, dir. Brad Pruitt; Beneath the Blindfold, dirs. Kathy Berger & Ines Sommer; Kite, dir. Dinesh Sabu; Grow, dir. Sarah Carlson; Hearing Images, dir. Matt Lauterbach; Mixing it Up: Voices of Cabrini, dir. Ronit Bezalel; Tony and Janina’s American Wedding, dir. Ruth Leitman; A Better Life, dir. Adam Dick; Eleanor and the Timekeeper, dir. Danielle Wilmouth; Being Bucky, dir. John Fromstein

2008

4H Kids, dirs. Amy Cargill & Lisa Gildehaus; Ear Worms, dir. Matt Lauterbach; No Sign of Foul Play; New Spirits, dir. Andrew Freer;  The Stumpgrinder, dir. Nick Nummerdor; Night Bus, dir. Todd Lillethun; For Those About to Rock, We Educate You, dirs. Oleg Mokhow & Tim Ro; Without a Rebel; Mary Had a Little Lamb; Ladybird, Ladybird, Fly Away Home

2007

American Cameraman, dir. Steven Ivcich; Hope Never Dies, dir. Mirko Popadic; Thrown Away, dir. Adam Novak; True Colors, dir. Bryan Walsh; Banging God’s Drum, dir. Johnny Silvey; An Alternative to Slitting Your Wrists, dir. Owen Lowery; The Atom Smashers, by 137 Films; What’s the Matter with Kansas, dirs. Joe Winston & Laura Cohen; No Half Steppin, dirs. Tom Bailey and Brendan Kredell; Hayloft Gang, dir. Steve Parry; My Brother’s War, dir. Shana East; The Regiment, dir. Matt Wittman

2006

Garbage Man, dir. Yvonne Welbon; My Nana’s Kitchen, dir. Katie Weber; My Brother’s War, dir. Shana East; Highway Robbery, dir. Rusty Nails

Keep in Touch

We love to hear from KTQ Lab participants as your film screens to audiences, enters festivals, and wins awards! Feel free to email us with updates.