Robert Kramer

(1939-1999)

Robert Kramer was part of a generation of artists and filmmakers who were militant for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. Born in New York, he studied Western European Philosophy and History, and was co-founder of the Newsreel collective, with which he made some 60 documentaries and short films on political issues between 1967 and 1971. After leaving it, he did numerous solo film jobs, moving always between documentary and fiction.

A nomadic filmmaker, he traveled and filmed in Latin America, North Vietnam during the war, Portugal after the April Revolution, and Angola after its independence. He went into exile in France for twenty years due to the consequences of Reaganism. In this country he also worked as a teacher during his last years of life. He also wrote two unpublished novels, numerous poems, plays and short stories.