Robert Kramer

Robert Kramer
Born(1939-06-22)June 22, 1939
New York City, United States
DiedNovember 10, 1999(1999-11-10) (aged 60)
Haute-Normandie, France
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • actor
Years active1965–1999

Robert Kramer (June 22, 1939 – November 10, 1999) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor who directed 19 films between 1965 and 1999, most of them political cinema made from a left-wing point of view.[1][2] Born in New York and educated at Swarthmore College and Stanford University, Kramer was a founding member of the filmmaking collective The Newsreel, established in New York City in 1968.[3] Kramer wrote, directed and starred in the 1970 thriller film Ice, and co-directed the 1975 film Milestones with John Douglas. After relocating to Europe in 1979,[4] Kramer directed the 1982 French film À toute allure, which was entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.[5]

In 1999, Kramer died of complications from meningitis in a hospital in Rouen, France.[6][7] In a retrospective essay, academic David Fresko wrote that Kramer's "unwavering commitment to anti-imperialism, anti-capitalism, and anti-racism and antipathy for Hollywood (and corporate media more generally) dashed any hopes for his commercial integration into the culture industries", and noted that, in Europe, "he is considered second only to Jean-Luc Godard in the pantheon of political modernists."[4]

  1. ^ Bergan, Ronald (November 16, 1999). "Robert Kramer". The Guardian. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  2. ^ Robert Kramer and the Jewish-German Question – essay by Hironobu Baba at Rouge
  3. ^ Crais, Benjamin (January 27, 2023). "The Traveller". New Left Review. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Fresko, David. "Robert Kramer: Cinema/Politics/Community". Metrograph. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  5. ^ "A Toute Allure - Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  6. ^ III, Harris M. Lentz (July 1, 2000). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 1999: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. McFarland. ISBN 9780786452040. Retrieved June 21, 2018 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Riding, Alan (November 13, 1999). "Robert Kramer, 60, a Director Of Films With a Political Edge". The New York Times. New York, New York. p. B-11. Retrieved August 1, 2024.