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.

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    New York Jewish Film Festival – January 10-23

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    The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center have partnered again in producing the 27th annual New York Jewish Film Festival. The festival showcases films from around the world that explore the diversity of Jewish experience. The Independent’s Senior Film Critic, Kurt Brokaw, was at this year’s festival and shares his favorites from a thrilling lineup of documentary, narrative, and short forms.

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    One difference between “Indie” and “Mainstream”: Money

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    Senior Film Critic, Kurt Brokaw, reviews Phantom Thread, the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie
    starring Daniel Day Lewis as a 50’s London dress-designer-to-royalty.  In the film, Lewis falls in love
    with a simple country girl, makes her his muse, and then pushes her away—as he’s done to some many others. But she’s determined to hold on to him… Find out why Brokaw recommends you see this Christmas Day opener.

  • DOC NYC Film Festival Nov. 9-16

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    Senior Film Critic Kurt Brokaw has been a tireless champion of shorts for years. In this 8th edition of DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, he views over 60 curated shorts from ten separate programs. Four are chosen for their timely and timeless quality.

  • New York Film Festival Sept. 28-Oct. 15

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    The Independent’s Senior Film Critic, Kurt Brokaw, picks early favorites from four shorts programs at this year’s New York Film Festival (Sept. 28-Oct. 15). Read about Brokaw’s picks and where and when these great films will be showing.

  • So You Want to be a Major Film Artist?

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    Senior Film Critic Kurt Brokaw reviews Water and Sugar, a ten-film retrospective on the life and work of Director Carlo Di Palma. Brokaw examines highlights of Di Palma’s biography, connecting these to the artist’s unique and celebrated output. Water and Sugar shows at the Walter Reade theater in Lincoln Center from Friday, July 28th through Thursday, August 3rd.