Film Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum on The History of American Independent Cinema

A still from ‘Museum of Wax’, directed by Charles Ludlam.
A still from 'Museum of Wax', directed by Charles Ludlam. Yale AIDS Memo­r­ial Pro­ject
A still from ‘Museum of Wax’, directed by Charles Ludlam.
A still from 'Museum of Wax', directed by Charles Ludlam. Yale AIDS Memo­r­ial Pro­ject

Film Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum on The History of American Independent Cinema

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Jonathan Rosenbaum is an internationally renowned film critic, historian and author of numerous books, including Discovering Orson Welles. The legendary former Chicago Reader film critic has published a new two-volume set on the history and importance of film criticism, looking at major film movements like Italian Neorealism and the French New Wave of the 1950s and 60s. Rosenbaum believes that “a critic’s ideal role is to mediate and facilitate our public discussion of cinema.” WBEZ film contributor Milos Stehlik sat down with Rosenbaum for a series of discussions on transformative film movements, independent film and film criticism. In this segment, Stehlik and Rosenbaum discuss the history of American independent cinema and its relationships with film movements around the world. They chat both about well-known giants in American film history and lesser-known artistic voices from Chicago, like Peter Thompson.