Quick Facts
Biography
Judy Hoffman is an American filmmaker and arts activist based in Chicago. She graduated from Northwestern University with a MFA and currently holds the position of Professor of Practice in The Arts in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago. Hoffman has played a major role in the development of Kartemquin films working on films such as Golub (2004). Hoffman still continues to have a huge influence in Kartemquin today, serving as a member on the Board of Directors. Beyond Kartemquin films, Hoffman worked with Kwakwaka’wakw, a First Nation in British Columbia. There, she produced films and videotapes about the reclaiming of Native culture. Most of Hoffman's work is done in the form of documentaries focusing on Chicago and its development. Hoffman has brought her activism to her films and still continues to make films that show the many facets of Chicago.
Career
Ms. Hoffman has worked in the film industry for over 35 years; Some of her major work was with the Chicago film company Kartemquin. While at Kartemquin, Hoffman directed Golub, which went on to debut at the New York Film Festival. The mission of Kartemquin, and a guiding theme in Hoffman's work, was the principle of social inquiry; promoting social change through the medium of film. Hoffman still plays a major role at Kartemquin today. Besides working with Kartemquin, Hoffman also worked with the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation of British Columbia, producing films and videotapes about reclaiming the tribe's culture. Hoffman specifically worked with the video training program on the N'amgis Reserve so that the natives would be able to make their own tapes. While with Kwakwaka'wakw she produced such films as award winning Box of Treasures, which was a film about the efforts to repatriate cultural artifacts.
In 1996 Hoffman was Acting Director of The Documentary Center of Columbia College where, along with Ronit Bezale, she developed the Voices of Cabrini. The film was about the destruction of public housing in Chicago.
Hoffman's love for documentary led her to film work showing a behind the scenes look at Britney Spears, called Stages: Three Days in Mexico , directed by Albert Maysles. This film gave her the opportunity to be the cinematographer on Maysles' The Gates, which was a documentary on Jeanne Claude and Christo's Central Park installation. The documentary aired on HBO in 2006.
Ms. Hoffman has collaborated with some noted feminists such as Jill Godmilow, Michelle Citron, and Barbara Kopple. She was the cinematographer on Howard Zinn: You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train; Sacco and Vanzetti; Nelson Algren: The End is Nothing, The Road is All. Judy has worked as the producer and shot many installations at the Smart Museum of Art and The Block Museum, among others.
Judy is currently working at The University of Chicago as a professor of the arts in the Department of Cinema and Media studies. Alongside her teaching role, Hoffman was most recently working on the film 70 acres in Chicago, which is a followup to The Voices of Cabrini.
Films
| Film | Year | Genre | Position | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local 70 | 1975 | Short Documentary | Producer, Director, Editor | The film is about the striking workers in Chicago and the unemployment compensations that led to the walking in July,1975. |
| HSA #4 | 1975 | Short Documentary | Producer | This film is a short of the HSA ( Hospital staff association workers) in the middle of the 1975 rally to try to improve health care conditions at hospitals. |
| HSA #1 | 1979 | Short Documentary | Producer | The film follows the debate of Cook County Hospital and the workers on strike. |
| Seeing Red | 1983 | Documentary | Camera assistant | The documentary film follows the American Communist party through the mid-twentieth century. |
| The Last Pullman Car | 1983 | Documentary | Camera assistant | The film follows George Pullman and his famous railroad sleeping cars. |
| Box of Treasures | 1984 | Short Documentary | Associate Producer | The film is about the Canadian government and the removal of possessions of the Kwakiut'l. |
| Women's Voices: The Gender Gap | 1984 | Short documentary | Camera assistant | The documentary is about the growing difference in men and women. |
| 4 Tops live at the Park West | 1984 | Short Documentary | Producer | The film follows The Four Tops as they perform in Chicago. |
| Taylor Chain II: A Story of Collective Bargaining | 1984 | Short | Camera assistant | The Film is about the Taylor chain plant and the labor and management and how they are working. |
| American Playhouse | 1984 | TV series | Camera assistant | Hoffman was a camera assistant on 2 episodes The Roommate and The Killing Floor. |
| Golub | 1988 | Documentary | Associate Producer | In this film is Leon's canvasses that depict scenes of mercenary killings, torture, and death squads. |
| Time to Make That Change | 1992 | Short Documentary | Producer | This video is about young African American kids in order to stop fighting one another. |
| People for Community Recovery #1-8 | 1993 | Short | Producer | The collection is about Cheryl Johnson's of the People for Community Recovery. |
| The Good Life | 1995 | TV series Documentary | Producer | |
| Frank Lloyd Wright | 1998 | Documentary | Camera assistant | The film follows the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. |
| Voices of Cabrini: Remaking Chicago's Public Housing | 1999 | Short Documentary | Executive Producer | |
| Nova | 2001 | TV series and documentary | Camera assistant | Aired on PBS in 2001; Hoffman was a camera assistant for 1 episode Cancer Warrior. |
| Stages: Three Days in Mexico - Britney Spears | 2002 | Documentary | Cinematographer, Director | This film follows behind the scenes of Britney Spears "Dream Within a Dream." |
| Golub: Late Works Are the Catastrophes | 2004 | Documentary | Photographer, Associate Producer | The film is about the work of the American artist, Leon Golub from 1985 to his death in 2004. |
| Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train | 2004 | Documentary | Cinematographer | This documentary is about the life of Howard Zinn who was a historian, activist, and author. |
| A Day on the Force: Women's Professional Tackle Football | 2004 | Documentary | Cinematographer | This film is a documentary about the Women's Tackle Football Team in Chicago. |
| Sacco and Vanzetti | 2006 | Documentary | Videographer | The film is about two Italian immigrants who were executed in 1927 and the issues of civil liberties and rights of immigrants. |
| Leftovers | 2007 | Documentary | videographer | The film follows the biggest Chicago public art project ever by Christo and Jeanne Claude. |
| The Gates | 2007 | Documentary | Videographer | The film follows the biggest Chicago public art project ever by Christo and Jeanne Claude. |
| In My Room: The Inner Life of Teen Girls | 2007 | Documentary | Cinematographer | This film is a documentary that going into the inner life of three different teen girls living in Illinois. |
| 70 Acres in Chicago:Cabrini Green | 2014 | Documentary | Executive Producer | The Documentary film is about Chicago mixed-income housing. |
| Nelson Algren: The End Is Nothing, the Road Is All... | 2015 | Documentary | Camera Operator, Cinematographer | The film is about the American author, Nelson Algren. In the film they show a compilation of interviews and other footage following the life Algren. |
Awards
Hoffman received the Voice from the Chicago Chicago's Center for Community and Media in 1994 and the Nelson Algren Committee Award in 2004 for “community activists making a significant contribution to Chicago life.”