Hoop Dreams

"An Extraordinary True Story."

1994 2h 54m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 345

Documentary

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

“An Extraordinary True Story.”

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Cast

William Gates
Self
Arthur Agee
Self
Gene Pingatore
Self
Steve James
Narrator (voice)
Dick Vitale
Self
Bobby Knight
Self
Spike Lee
Self
Isiah Thomas
Self

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Steve James
Writers: Steve James, Frederick Marx
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 174 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $8M — a 11.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

32 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Steve James, shot by Peter Gilbert. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor William Haugse shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

William Gates and Arthur Agee and Gene Pingatore carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steve James directs. Peter Gilbert behind the camera. William Haugse cuts. A long sit — settle in. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 174 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $0.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $8M — a 11.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
432 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
6Directed by Steve James, shot by Peter Gilbert. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Editor William Haugse shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8William Gates and Arthur Agee and Gene Pingatore carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "An Extraordinary True Story.".
10IMDB entry: tt0110057 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 9 themes, including "chicago, illinois", "sports", "narration", "ghetto".

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter Gilbert
Editing: William Haugse
Runtime: 174 min · 2h 54m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $700,000
Box office: $7,830,611
Return: 1119% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Hoop Dreams (1994)

Awards

Sundance Audience Award: U.S. Documentary

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Steve James

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

kineticandroid2014-06-29
That all-consuming drive towards being a professional athlete eats away at two inner-city Chicago boys and their families. And yet, they still find time to celebrate the little victories along the way, keeping this film from diving too much into an exploration in futility, and more of a life-affirming exploration of the nature of dreams.

Production companies