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 Film Festival Nov. 6-15 – Critic’s Choices

DOC NYC Film Festival Nov. 6-15 – Critic’s Choices

America’s largest documentary film festival celebrates its 10th anniversary with 300 features, shorts and events, showing on 16 downtown Manhattan screens. Senior Film Critic Kurt Brokaw focuses on features and shorts set in and around New York City, selecting two shorts plus three features saluting The Apollo theater, rocker Lydia Lunch, and Cinema 5’s legendary exhibitor and distributor Donald Rugoff.

Checking Out “The Celluloid Paper Trail,” the Ultimate Guide to Screenplays
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Checking Out “The Celluloid Paper Trail,” the Ultimate Guide to Screenplays

Could your screenplay one day be worth enough to display in Royal Books’ high-end collectors window in Baltimore? Owner/scholar Kevin Johnson’s new book, The Cellluloid Paper Trail, is the first definitive examination of movie scripts in the 20th century–their provenance and value from story scripts through the myriad drafts that follow. Senior film critic Kurt Brokaw deconstructs this landmark study.

Tribeca 2019 Short Films: Critic’s Choice

Tribeca 2019 Short Films: Critic’s Choice

Senior Film Critic Kurt Brokaw reviews his picks for short films from the 18th Annual Tribeca Film Festival—Carlito Leaves Forever directed by Quentin Lazzarotto; The Neighbors’ Window directed by Marshall Curry; The History of White People in America: These American Truths directed by Ed Bell, Clementine Briand, Pierce Freelon, Jon Halperin,  Aaron Keane, and Drew Takahashi; and Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl) directed by Carol Dysinger.

New Directors/New Films 2019 (March 27-April 7)
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New Directors/New Films 2019 (March 27-April 7)

The 48th annual edition of ND/NF, curated by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art, spotlights 35 features and shorts from promising directors worldwide. Senior film critic Kurt Brokaw examines five dramas and documentaries, including Chinonye Chukwa’s Opening Night prison drama, Clemency, premiering in New York just 13 days after California’s governor granted temporary reprieves to over 700 inmates on the state’s death row.

Rendez-Vous With French Cinema — Feb.28-March 10
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Rendez-Vous With French Cinema — Feb.28-March 10

Rendez-Vous With French Cinema unreels in Lincoln Center February 28-March 10. The 24th annual edition, co-sponsored by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and UniFrance, presents nearly two dozen new French dramas, most having their US or New York premieres. Senior film critic Kurt Brokaw viewed everything available and selects Invisibles (above), Paul Sanchez Is Back!, and Raising Colors as favorites. Read those reviews here.