Chicago Takes Center Stage In New Docuseries ‘City So Real’

CHICAGO, IL (Oct. 28, 2020) — Academy Award-nominated director Steve James has created a new five-hour series about modern life in Chicago. “City So Real” covers the city’s response to the tense 2018 mayoral election, the national notoriety of the Laquan McDonald police shooting case and the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Originally intended to be a feature film, the “Hoop Dreams” director realized “it would have been very difficult to do it justice” in two hours.

“Fortunately, this is a really exciting time to make documentaries,” James said. “There’s a thirst for content as long as it’s entertaining.” And it is — as entertaining as it is tense, frustrating, raw and hopeful.

Production began in July 2018, documenting the crowded mayoral election that ended in a run-off between Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot. “I’m sure we shot close to 400 hours of film,” said James, who has lived in Chicago for 30 years.

“We did our best to keep up, to respond to what was happening in real-time,” producer Zak Piper said. “During the peak of production, we often zig-zagged around the city filming completely disparate scenes in four or five locations.”

James and his crew offer slice-of-life insight into the vastly different areas of the city at this moment in time, interviewing citizens of every background. The end product shows the direct impact of politics on communities — and just how disparate those politics can be from real life.

For those who live in and around Chicago, many of these names and news stories will be familiar. But James shows the impact of these news stories on “real” people on the north and south sides. They share their views and tell their stories openly, creating what executive producer Diane Weyerman calls an “overflowing sense of humanity.”

“Steve James captures small moments that say so much. The beauty of his approach is that it’s always changing, and it’s very organic,” Weyerman said. “When you watch the series, you become part of this election, along with people from all walks of life, some of whom have never been involved in politics and others who are lifelong political players. And then Steve reminds us of what those politics are in service to with a few moments of sheer humanity, like a homeless woman singing a Christmas carol in a diner. Those moments are so deeply moving and touching and relatable.”

James gives as much air-time to real Chicagoans as he does to politicians and news briefs, shining a light on the unique character of the city — warts and all.

“All cities have their boosters, but there’s something unique about the passionate love and civic pride Chicagoans have for their city,” James said. “Despite the problems, however, you’d be hard-pressed to find a lot of people who don’t have hope about where the city is heading. There are a lot of good people doing good things. I feel like that’s a really important message and an important story to tell.”

Jackson James is the director’s son, serving as second cameraman and cinematographer on the National Geographic documentary. “We could never capture Chicago as a whole,” he said. “But we did unearth scenes from a city at a pivotal point in its history.”

Just as the team found it difficult to examine the dynamic city as a whole, it’s almost impossible to adequately summarize the scope of this thoughtful, detail-oriented docuseries. Ultimately, “City So Real” is a fascinating, frustrating and hopeful look at a packed chapter in the history of the third-largest U.S. city.

“Chicago’s story parallels those that are happening across the country,” said the younger James. “Displacement, corruption, financial deficits, racism, violence, segregation, gentrification...there’s so much that falls into the crosshairs of the public through this election, and it initiates the questions of how to reckon with it all.”

All five episodes of “City So Real” will air commercial-free on National Geographic Channel Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. before hitting Hulu on Friday.