Kurt Brokaw

Kurt Brokaw joined The Independent in 2010 as Senior Film Critic, covering New York’s six major film festivals and reviewing individual features and shorts of merit.  He was Associate Teaching Professor at The New School for 33 years, and has taught courses on film noir, early lesbian fiction and Jewish-themed cinema at The 92nd Street Y for 15 years. His memoir, The Paperback Guy, was published in 2020.

DOC NYC 2015: Critic’s Picks

DOC NYC 2015: Critic’s Picks

Films by directors Barbara Kopple, Kristina Sorge, Douglas Sloan, Kent Jones, Jason Hutt, Marc Levin, Stephen Maing, Jimmy Goldblum, and Amy Berg are Kurt Brokaw’s critic’s picks from DOC NYC, the all-documentary festival that runs from November 12-19, 2015.

NYFF 2015: Critic’s Choice

NYFF 2015: Critic’s Choice

Remember 2008’s spectacular doc-based-on-a-book Man On Wire? Now it’s fictionalized as The Walk and Kurt Brokaw LOVED it. Find out what else our senior critic adored at this year’s New York Film Festival, running September 25-October 11, 2015.

Tribeca 2015: Critic’s Choice

Tribeca 2015: Critic’s Choice

Senior critic Kurt Brokaw commends Tribeca’s Sharon Badal on her “peerless curating” in his annual selection of festival favorites. From the buzzy The Wolfpack to the under-the-radar shorts such as Big Boy selected by Badal, this year’s picks thus far include dramatized dance, rock legends (but not conspiracy theories), and under-helicoptered children.