Directed by Gordon Quinn, Gerald Temaner • Documentary • 1968 • 33 minutes
Two young nuns explore Chicago, from a supermarket to the Art Institute and in front of churches on Sunday, confronting people with the crucial question, "Are you happy?" They meet a lonely girl, a happy mother, another nun, lovers, hippie musicians, a lady sociologist, a professor, and even actor Stepin Fetchit. The answers they get range in sincerity and depth: "Happiness is the absence of fear," "Avoiding people," "Raspberries," "Joy in knowing Christ." The humor and sadness of these honest encounters lift the film beyond its interview format to a serious and moving inquiry into the concerns of contemporary man, and also into the circumstances in which men will actually express their concerns.
Up Next in Kartemquin Films
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The Last Pullman Car
Directed by Gordon Quinn, Jerry Blumenthal • Documentary • 1983 • 56 minutes
In 1864, George Pullman began selling his famous railroad sleeping cars which helped him build a vast industrial empire that was supposed to last forever. In 1981, however, Pullman workers found themselves in the midst ...
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Milking the Rhino
Directed by David E. Simpson • Documentary • With None listed on IMDB • 2008 • 83 minutes
A ferocious kill on the Serengeti… dire warnings about endangered species… These clichés of nature documentaries ignore a key feature of the landscape: villagers just off-camera, who navigate the dangers an...
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The New Americans - Episode 1
Directed by Laura Angelica Simon • Documentary • 2003 • 55 minutes
We first meet the Nwidor and Lawani families, members of a small tribal minority known as the Ogonis, in a refugee camp in Benin, West Africa. The Ogoni people had opposed Nigeria’s military government and the Shell Oil Corporati...
