#CIFF41 honors Steve James with Director's Spotlight Award

Acclaimed director and long-time Kartemquin associate Steve James will be honored by the Cleveland International Film Festival with the festival's Director's Spotlight Award. Previous award recipients include the likes of Kurt Kuenne, Jan Hřebejk, John Sayles, Rolf de Heer, Freida Lee Mock, Todd Solondz and Goran Markovic.

CIFF41 runs March 29-April 9 in Cleveland, Ohio. In honor of James, the festival will screen Life ItselfHoop DreamsAt the Death House Door and his newest release, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail.

The festival has previously screened three of James' films, including No Crossover: The Trial of Allen IversonThe Interrupters, and Steve.

James' current projects include Generation Food, a transmedia collaboration with author Raj Patel that looks at solutions to fixing the broken global food system and America to Me, a series that follows the stories of teachers and students grappling with decades-long racial and educational inequities.

James and Abacus: Small Enough to Jail head to the True/False Film Fest in Columbia, MO for a series of screenings March 3-5 as well as the Port Jefferson Documentary Series in Stony Brook, NY on March 27. Stay up-to-date on screenings here.

Julia Martin