
“White people have to
more than just think
that it’s okay to
not act in a racist way …
they actually have to
actively do something”
Director Steve James
America to Me explores a national crisis, but that’s just the beginning. The ten-part docuseries, premiering August 26 on the Starz Network, is a call to action.
Covering a yearlong stretch in the lives of a dozen students from Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF), it begins with a montage in an educational institution that is recognized as one of the most progressive in the nation.
During the sequence, a handful of African American kids explain why they attended a Black Lives Matter forum that the school hosted exclusively for them, while a few uninvited whites say that they may have wanted to go.
Racial issues appear throughout the first two episodes — which Chicago-based production company Kartemquin Films screened for an audience at AMC River East on Tuesday night.
In one scene, an administrator declares that, “We are failing our kids every day.” In another, the narrator informs viewers that the school’s principal and dean refused to participate in the film.
AMERICA TO ME OFFICIAL TRAILER | STARZ DOCUSERIES
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Director Steve James, on hand for a Q&A after the Tuesday-night screening, said that part of his motivation for making the film was to “understand fundamentally how this community was failing.”
A long-time Oak Park resident and father of three OPRF graduates, he described his hometown as “this incredibly liberal community with an extremely well-funded public school system.” But he also recalled that, “the community, for literally decades, had been wringing its hands over the fact that it didn’t seem to be making a big difference in the inequities of achievement between white students and black students.”
After completing the series and admitting that, “I was remarkably ignorant,” he realized that his work had just begun.
“If things are going to change, white people across the board in many ways have to more than just think that it’s okay to not act in a racist way,” he said. “They actually have to actively do something.”

James was part of a panel on Tuesday night that included Jessica Stovall, a former OPRF teacher who factors strongly into the first two episodes of America To Me.
When filming began, Stovall had just returned from a year abroad conducting “really intensive research” into school systems that had overcome racial issues similar to the ones facing OPRF. But in a scene where she presents her findings to school administrators, the response is “crickets.”
“Some of my biggest support actually came from the film crew,” she told the audience on Tuesday night. “I put in three more years after filming and things continued to progressively get worse, which was what led to my decision to leave.”
Stovall is now pursuing a PhD in Education at Stanford University.
The situation borders on a crisis, no doubt. But Participant Media is working to alleviate the symptoms.
Participant, credited alongside Kartemquin as the production company for America to Me, helps create audience engagement through entertainment that brings social awareness. It has developed a campaign called “America to me: real talk” that will complement every episode of the series with a discussion guide for watch groups across the country. The company also plans to screen individual episodes and conduct follow-up discussions in ten cities across the nation, including a Chicago event on October 26.
After watching the first two episodes, however, it seems that finding a cure requires massive input from the students who are actually living through the dysfunction that has been thrust upon them.
Fortunately, the kids in America To Me are awesome. Charismatic, funny, and articulate, they work for academic success and plan for the future while remaining totally self-aware. They also take James and his crew everywhere, from classrooms and hallways to cheerleading and football practice and even into their own homes.
The resulting scenes of high school kids waking up at 5:30 in the morning to lose weight for the wrestling team or writing poetry to address highly personal issues are an immense dose of hope.
Along the way, the OPRF students offer and accept their own opinions about race without malice or resentment. They make all kinds of white-kids-do-this and black-kids-do-that observations that effectively enhance the discussion.
If these kids lead us into the future, we might just be okay after all.
CREDITS
Production Companies
Participant Media
Kartemquin Films
Distributors
Starz! (2018) (World-wide) (all media)
Special Effects
Nolo Digital Film (color post-production)
Directed by
Steve James
Bing Liu — (segment director)
Rebecca Parrish — (segment director)
Kevin Shaw — (segment director)
Produced by
John Condne — series producer
Steve James — executive producer
Justine Nagan — executive producer
Gordon Quinn — executive producer
Risé Sanders-Weir — series producer
Jeff Skoll — executive producer
Janea Smith — co-producer
Stephanie Rae Smith — associate producer
Betsy Steinberg — executive producer
Diane Weyermann — executive producer
Cinematography by
Steve James
Bing Liu
Rebecca Parrish
Kevin Shaw
Film Editing by
Rubin Daniels Jr. — associate editor
Steve James
Alanna Schmelter — co-editor
Leslie Simmer
David E. Simpson
Art Department
Aireen Arellano — graphic designer
Mark A. Lofgren — motion graphics and animation
Dan Sharkey — graphics
Sound Department
Patrick Bresnahan — sound recordist
Alan Chow — sound recordist
Nick Clemente — sound recordist
John Fecile — sound recordist
Ashley Alysa France — sound recordist
Derek Hanson — sound recordist
Josh Hunnicut — sound effects editor
Hayden Jackson — sound recordist
Tim Konn — executive producer
Doug Mara — sound recordist
John Mathie — sound recordist
Alex Paguirigan — sound effects editor
Zak Piper — sound recordist
Richard K. Pooler — sound recordist
Mike Regan — sound effects editor
Louise Rider — producer
Doug Ryan — sound recordist
Bennett Spencer — sound recordist
Logan Vines — sound effects editor
Drew Weir — supervising sound designer/re-recording mixer
Shuling Yong — sound recordist
Visual Effects by
Joe Flanagan — producer
Michael Matusek — colorist
Elliot Rudmann — colorist
Camera and Electrical Department
Drew Angle — additional cinematography
Tom Callahan — drone footage
Cosmo Coffey — additional cinematography
Jackson James — additional cinematography
Dana Kupper — additional cinematography
Darryl Parham — additional cinematography
Adam Singer — additional cinematography
Keith Walker — additional cinematography
Editorial Department
Rubin Daniels Jr. — post-production coordinator
Ryan Gleeson — technical supervisor
Norvin Leeper — assistant editor
Alanna Schmelter — post-production supervisor
Boris Seagraves — additional color
Music Department
Joshua Abrams — music by / music recorded by / musician
Yaw Agyeman — musician
Nick Broste — music recorded by / musician
Jocelyn Michelle Brown — music supervisor
Soma Ems — mixed by
Marquis Hill — musician
Dawn Sutter Madell — music supervisor
John McEntire — mixed by
Jeff Parker — musician
Teddy Rankin-Parker — musician
James Sanders — musician
Shape Shoppe — music recorded by
Other crew
Max Asaf — for: Kartemquin Films
Jack Bauhs — student filmmakers
Meryam Bouadjemi — production support
Brian Branand — student filmmakers
Abbie Brasch — production support
Jada Buford — student filmmakers
Zach Cargie — student filmmakers
Lourdes Contreras — student filmmakers
Andrea De Fraga — finance officer for: Kartemquin Films
Jay Faulkner — student filmmakers
Michael Filek — student filmmakers
Lauren Flowers — student filmmakers
Blake Griffin — production support
Derik S. Hines — production assistant / production support
Tim Horsburgh — communications and distribution officer for: Kartemquin Films
Marriah Kern — for: Kartemquin Films
Joanna Lakatos — development officer for: Kartemquin Films
Liam Loughran — student filmmakers
Julia Martin — for: Kartemquin Films
Nancy McDonald — for: Kartemquin Films
Viorica Mereuta — for: Kartemquin Films
Ashley Mills — production support
Jim Morrisette — technical officer for: Kartemquin Films
Suzanne Niemoth — for: Kartemquin Films
Eileen O’Donnell — production support
Toni Reed — production support
Ingrid Roettgen — for: Kartemquin Films
Rachel Rozycki — production support
Simone Scott — student filmmakers
Beckie Stocchetti — for: Kartemquin Films
Anthony Stoll — for: Kartemquin Films
Emily Strong — for: Kartemquin Films / production support
Stephanie Sunata — production support
Veronica Thomas — student filmmakers
Pedro Urgiles — for: Kartemquin Films
Mimi Wilcox — production support