Robert Kramer Deserves a Revival as the New Left's Forgotten Filmmaker Because His Obscurity Stems from Inaccessibility, Not Irrelevance
Source: Whitney Strub. "Robert Kramer Is the New Left’s Great, Forgotten Filmmaker." October 12, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author says Robert Kramer made the most important films about the American New Left from the inside, but almost nobody remembers him because his movies were hard to find for decades. With American politics turbulent again, his films feel timely, so it's time to bring them back.
Conclusion
Robert Kramer, the key filmmaker of the US New Left, deserves rediscovery and a revival in the current age of political volatility, because his films are historically important and newly relevant, and his obscurity is due mainly to the unavailability of his work rather than a lack of merit.
Premises
- Kramer was almost indisputably the key filmmaker of the US New Left: he helped shape the Newsreel collective, which forged the movement's aesthetics, and had ties to SDS, the Weather Underground, and anti-colonial movements.
- His independent films (e.g., Troublemakers, The Edge, Ice, People's War) captured the New Left from the inside, from its promising beginning to its painful unraveling, and offer its most cohesive filmic legacy.
- Kramer was admired by radicals and critics alike, including Cahiers du cinéma and Jacques Rivette, which shows his work had recognized artistic and political merit.
- Despite this, Kramer is obscure in the US, a cult figure at most, and the author's research concludes that the primary cause is material: for decades almost none of his work was easily available, since the home video market bypassed him and many films remain hard to find even in the streaming era.
- Contemporary American politics are increasingly volatile and its contradictions are heightening, and Kramer's explorations of radicalism, such as the insurrectionist vision of Ice, resonate with current events and feel more pertinent than ever.
Assumptions
- Historical and artistic significance, once established, justifies renewed public attention and distribution.
- Accessibility is a necessary condition for a filmmaker's cultural memory, so unavailability is sufficient to explain obscurity.
- Political repression, while real, was not the main cause of Kramer's obscurity.
- Films about the New Left's radicalism and collapse offer useful insight for understanding present-day political turmoil.
- Kramer's French reception and critical admiration are valid indicators of quality, not just fashion.
- Parallels between 1960s radicalism and events like January 6 or political violence in 2026 are meaningful rather than superficial.