James Bryce said that Chicago is “perhaps the most typically American place in America.” Filmmaker Steve James updated that: “What Chicago is struggling with, America is struggling with.” I spoke with James, a two-time Academy Award nominee for Hoop Dreams and America to Me, and his partner and producer Zak Piper, just before the world premiere of two of four one-hour episodes of the new documentary City So Real at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City in January produced by Participant Media and Kartemquin Films. All episodes (including an updated fifth bonus episode) are now streaming on Hulu.
