A Cultural Film

The continuing cultural fascination with World War II has ensured that it’s the conflict most represented in cinema, and the Criterion Collection indeed contains more works about that massive conflagration than any other.

Oct 29, 2024 — From Kaneto Shindo to Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the masters of the genre over the past half-century have tapped into a deep well of cultural anxiety, exploring everything from the sins of their nation’s feudal past to the dangers of new technologies.

Jun 17, 2025 — Authors address overt and covert queer cinema, the avant-garde, and AI; plus notes on new collections and entire filmographies.

Dec 7, 2021 — Regina King’s feature-film directorial debut envisions the true-life convergence of four prominent Black figures with empathy and moral urgency.

Sep 21, 2017 — Tonight, Shotgun Cinema in New Orleans screens a piquant sampling of the wildly idiosyncratic documentaries of Les Blank.

Dec 3, 2020 — One of cinema’s preeminent directors is currently at work on two new projects.

Sep 3, 2019 — In the early sixties, John Schlesinger made a name for himself as part of the British New Wave, as the energetic, gritty realism of his first few features—A Kind of Loving, Billy Liar, and Darling (for which Julie Christie won...

Jun 26, 2017 — The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Interpreter of Maladies speaks about her deeply personal connection to Indian cinema in this Criterion Channel exclusive interview.

Dec 19, 2017 — Reese Witherspoon looks back on how she perfected the details of her performance as a high-school overachiever in Alexander Payne’s Election.

Mar 29, 2017 — Film journalist Mark Harris stopped by Criterion to chat about the growing pains that five Hollywood filmmakers experienced during World War II.