The Interrupters gets the Colbert bump

Ameena Matthews in The Interrupters

Chicago-based Kartemquin Films has been tweeting up a storm about tomorrow night's Colbert Report, when Stephen Colbert will take time off from his successful Super PAC to interview The Interrupters' Ameena Matthews. We're wondering why Jon Stewart hasn't booked Flamo—but given that Matthews was the breakout star of Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz's film, the confrontation promises to be an exciting one.

Talk is still circulating about the locally shot documentary's Oscar snub, with Project Nim's James Marsh, who won an award for Best Documentary from the Directors' Guild of America this weekend, saying the lack of a nomination for The Interrupters means "there's something there not working well" with the Oscar process. Roger Ebert called the slight "the most discussed non-nomination since 1994, when James's masterpiece Hoop Dreams was not nominated." When we interviewed nominee Joe Berlinger for Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, he was sympathetic, too. "I feel horrible for Steve, because he deserves to be on that list," he told me. "I especially feel Steve’s snub because (a) I thought The Interrupters was a fabulous film and (b) I’ve been there before."

Still, is an Oscar really better than the Colbert bump?

Check out our interview with Matthews in On Demand next week. The Interrupters arrives on DVD and Blu-ray February 14. The Interrupters will also be broadcast on PBS at 8pm CST on February 14 (check local listings).