Obsessed with Independent Film Since 1976
Questlove debuts Harlem’s Summer of Soul
By Kurt BrokawSenior Film Critic Kurt Brokaw reviews Summer of Soul, a documentary on the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival that brought together some of the best performers of Jazz, Soul, Gospel, and Funk.
Hamptons Doc Fest Call for Submission
By Katrina DizonThe Hamptons Doc Fest is a 10-day festival focusd on “all docs all day,” The festival screens approximately 35 films including features and shorts in a hybrid of virtual and live in-theater screenings. The festival dates for 2021 are December 3 to December 12 and will include screenings, discussions, panels, and awards. The festival provides… Read more »
Notes From Home at this Year’s New York African Film Festival
By John RodzvillaThis year’s New York African Film Festival provides the perfect start to Black History Month in the United States. The theme this year is “Notes From Home: Recurring Dreams & Women’s Voices” with films about the echoes of African cultures across the diaspora. The features and programs spotlight the voices of women who push the… Read more »
The New York Jewish Film Festival Jan. 13-26, 2021
By Kurt BrokawSure, it was sorely disappointing not to view the 24 narrative dramas, documentaries and shorts up on the big screens at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater. That’s where NYJFF, co-sponsored by The Jewish Museum and Film at Lincoln Center, shows its annual festivals. But the real loss for this viewer—an irreplaceable loss—came in not being… Read more »
New York Film Festival – Critic’s Choices
By Kurt Brokaw2020 New York Film Festival – For the first time in its 58 year history, Manhattan’s NYFF wasn’t shown in its Lincoln Center home. Senior Film Critic Kurt Brokaw watched it all online, reviewing his favorite narrative dramas, documentary features, and outstanding shorts.
The Gay Agenda is Alive and Well: These Thems
By Courtney Gardner“Look at all these…thems, shes, hes, zirs…” Vero says, leaning against the bar, as the smile of a proud parent reaches across their face. This scene ends with a powerful, incredibly joyful, dance montage overlayed with the Hallway Swimmers’ Night Out, “We are the lucky ones; we have already won. We are together now. Can’t… Read more »
The New York Jewish Film Festival Jan. 15-28
By Kurt BrokawThe nice curators at The Jewish Museum and Film at Lincoln Center have made their own special mitzvah to the city’s residents in January. Out of 30 narrative dramas, documentaries and shorts that comprise the 29th NYJFF, not one, not two, but three separate feature films having their New York premieres are intelligent father/daughter dramas…. Read more »
DOC NYC Film Festival Nov. 6-15 – Critic’s Choices
By Kurt BrokawAmerica’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.
New York Film Festival 2019 – Critic’s Choices
By Kurt BrokawSenior Film Critic Kurt Brokaw selects five narrative dramas, two documentaries and two shorts as top recommends from the 57th annual NYFF, held Sept.27-Oct.13 in Lincoln Center.
Checking Out “The Celluloid Paper Trail,” the Ultimate Guide to Screenplays
By Kurt BrokawCould 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.