Justine Nagan, who grew up in the Twin Cities area and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2000, was recently named executive director of Chicago-based Kartemquin Films.
She had been serving as a producer and interim associate director of the 40-year-old nonprofit organization, which is known for such documentaries as “Hoop Dreams” and “The New Americans.”
Nagan recently directed “Typeface,” a documentary on a museum and print shop in Two Rivers, Wis., that is struggling to stay relevant in the digital age. The film reportedly sold out two pre-screenings at the Walker Art Center last year.
She also was associate producer of Kartemquin’s stem-cell documentary, “Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita,” broadcast nationally on PBS’ Independent Lens in 2008.
Nagan attended Fridley High School, majored in film and journalism at UW-Madison, and received an M.A. from the University of Chicago. You can read more about her here and in this Chicago Magazine article.
Comments (1)
Interestingly, MinnPost covered Justine’s grandmother in 2007:
http://www.minnpost.com/mollypriesmeyer/2007/11/30/237/apron_maker_shows_theres_sew_much_more_to_life
Justine comes from a long line of creative, talented ladies!
There’s another local connection, too: a bunch of footage in Typeface was shot by local filmmaker Jeremy Wilker.
Full disclosure: Mary Jane was my grandmother, Justine is my cousin, Jeremy is my husband…and I work at Clockwork (whose software powers MinnPost).