| Photos (see all 16 | slideshow) | Videos (see all 2 videos ) |
| William Gates | ... | Himself | |
| Arthur Agee | ... | Himself | |
| Emma Gates | ... | Herself (William's mother) | |
| Curtis Gates | ... | Himself (William's brother) | |
| Sheila Agee | ... | Herself (Arthur's mother) | |
| Arthur 'Bo' Agee | ... | Himself (Arthur's father) | |
| Earl Smith | ... | Himself (Talent scout) | |
| Gene Pingatore | ... | Himself (High school basketball coach) | |
| Isiah Thomas | ... | Himself (Professional basketball player) | |
| Sister Marlyn Hopewell | ... | Herself (High school guidance counselor) | |
| Bill Gleason | ... | Himself (Television reporter) | |
| Patricia Weir | ... | Herself (President, Encyclopedia Brittanica) | |
| Marjorie Heard | ... | Herself (High school guidance counselor) | |
| Luther Bedford | ... | Himself (High school basketball coach) | |
| Aretha Mitchell | ... | Herself (High school guidance counselor) | |
| Shannon Johnson | ... | Herself | |
| Tomika Agee | ... | Herself (Arthur's sister) | |
| Joe 'Sweetie' Agee | ... | Himself (Arthur's brother) | |
| Jazz Agee | ... | Herself (Tomika's daughter, Arthur's niece) | |
| Catherine Mines | ... | Herself (William's girlfriend) | |
| Alicia Mines | ... | Herself (William's daughter) | |
| Alvin Bibbs | ... | Himself (William's brother-in-law) | |
| Willie Gates | ... | Himself (William's father) | |
| James Kelly | ... | Himself (High school teacher and registrar) | |
| Michael O'Brie | ... | Himself (High school finance director) | |
| Dick Vitale | ... | Himself (Television sports commentator) | |
| Kevin O'Neill | ... | Himself (Marquette University head basketball coach) | |
| Bobby Knight | ... | Himself (Indiana University head basketball coach) | |
| Joey Meyer | ... | Himself (DePaul University head basketball coach) | |
| Frank DuBois | ... | Himself (Camp academic director) | |
| Spike Lee | ... | Himself (Film director) | |
| Bo Ellis | ... | Himself (Marquette University assistant backetball coach) | |
| Bob Gibbons | ... | Himself (Basketball scout) | |
| Dennis Doyle | ... | Himself (High school assistant basketball coach) | |
| Clarence Webb | ... | Himself (High school science teacher) | |
| Stan Wilson | ... | Himself (Basketball scout) | |
| Derrick Zinneman | ... | Himself (High school basketball player) | |
| Tim Gray | ... | Himself (Junior college basketball coach) | |
| Myron Gordon | ... | Himself (Junior college basketball player) | |
| Steve James | ... | Narrator | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Elijiah Ephraim | ... | Himself | |
| Eric Anderson | ... | Himself (uncredited) | |
| Bobby Cremins | ... | Himself (uncredited) | |
| Juwan Howard | ... | Himself (uncredited) | |
| Mike Krzyzewski | ... | Himself (uncredited) | |
| Rick Pitino | ... | Himself (uncredited) | |
| Jalen Rose | ... | Himself (uncredited) | |
| John Thompson | ... | Himself (uncredited) | |
| Chris Webber | ... | Himself (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Steve James | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Steve James | writer | |
| Frederick Marx | writer | |
Produced by | |||
| Catherine Allan | .... | executive producer | |
| Peter Gilbert | .... | producer | |
| Steve James | .... | producer | |
| Frederick Marx | .... | producer | |
| Gordon Quinn | .... | executive producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Ben Sidran | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Peter Gilbert | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| William Haugse | |||
| Steve James | |||
| Frederick Marx | |||
Production Management | |||
| Emily Stevens | .... | production manager: KTCA | |
| Suzanne Suffredin | .... | post-production supervisor | |
Sound Department | |||
| Corey Coken | .... | sound mixer | |
| Ric Coken | .... | sound mixer | |
| Bryen Hensley | .... | sound mixer | |
| Bill Jenkins | .... | additional sound | |
| Margaret M.S. Marvin | .... | sound mixer | |
| Mirko Popadic | .... | additional sound | |
| Chuck Rapp | .... | sound mixer | |
| Ed Scott | .... | additional sound | |
| Adam Singer | .... | sound | |
| Tom Yore | .... | sound | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Lou Anastas | .... | assistant editor | |
| Linda Balek | .... | assistant editor | |
| Fenell Doremus | .... | assistant editor | |
| Fenell Doremus | .... | post-production coordinator | |
| Jim Fetterley | .... | assistant editor | |
| Sarah Galloway | .... | assistant editor | |
| Lisa Hubbard | .... | assistant editor | |
| Robert Jung | .... | colorist | |
| Neil Laird | .... | assistant editor | |
| Craig Leffel | .... | colorist | |
Music Department | |||
| Ben Sidran | .... | music producer | |
| Tom Yore | .... | composer: additional music | |
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| Coach Carter | Half Nelson | Save the Last Dance | Through the Fire | O |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Documentary section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |
It runs for three hours but it feels much less, such is the power that this documentary holds. Absorbing, you get sucked in and the film has this grip on you.
If Reality TV is your thing, I'd seriously give this film a go, then you can stop watching Reality TV and start to recognise, understand and prioritise real-world situations that actually matter, like racism, poverty, drug abuse, peer pressure and well, dreams.
You'll fall in love with the characters, and there's even a bad-guy for us to boo. You can sometimes question the manipulative techniques on display, but the film is actually not as guilty as some, the makers have a genuine affection for their subjects and do as much as they can within the rules of documentary to help them out without compromising their objectivity.
Be that as it may, this film should be compulsory viewing for many younger audiences, as it shows you exactly how real life differs from the garbage that passes for representation of youth on TV and in film today.
I really can't say enough about the need for more films like this, the fact that the Academy Awards were changed because of the strength of this film goes some way to showing you exactly how powerful it is.