Adventures in Auteurism: A Crusade for the Critically Neglected

“Most dyed-in-the-wool film buffs nurture their own private lists of movie directors they feel have been underappreciated, neglected, and/or underrated,” Joe Dante writes in this book’s Foreword. “But very few of us are moved to write an entire book about them.” Beyond mere appreciation, however, author Daniel Kremer presents a philosophy and a guiding principle for venerating the undervalued or forgotten. He casts an eye toward expanding the auteur theory for a new generation with the novel privilege of wide access, rapid retrieval, and immediate playback. Through 26 full case studies, along with dozens of shorter studies, Kremer hijacks the spotlight to shine a searchlight that becomes a limelight. “Once upon a time, it was difficult to marathon any director’s films, unless one had an inside track at an archive or museum collection,” Kremer writes. “One had to rely on the endorsement of tastemakers with those advantages. Now, everything is available and there’s a big, wide world of films and filmmakers right at our fingertips.” But with this embarrassment of riches, how do we effectively look, and then look closer? Adventures in Auteurism is both a treasure map and a manifesto, revealing how overlooked filmmakers can reframe the way we think about cinema.

“Daniel Kremer pokes the critical bear by daring to repopulate Andrew Sarris’s 1968 pantheon with his own highly personal and meticulous evaluations of a more recent generation of directors, some of them obscure. His analyses are articulate and frequently emotional. As one of only a handful of film critics who has actually made movies — and therefore knows the trenches and not just the map — he provides unusually well-informed and accessibly written assessments. Adventures in Auteurism is a shot across the bow that brings old Hollywood into modern times. Even readers who haven’t seen all the films (or even heard of half of them) will find interest in Kremer’s selections and insights. — Nat Segaloff

Daniel Kremer is a filmmaker, film historian, editor, archivist and author of Sidney J. Furie: Life and Films, published by the University Press of Kentucky in 2015. As a historian audio commentator and video essayist, he has worked on nearly 200 physical media releases from nearly twenty companies. His feature films as writer-director include Raise Your Kids on Seltzer (2015), Overwhelm the Sky (2019), and It’s a Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie Point (2023).

^{Adventures in Auteurism (2025)
Paperback ISBN 979-8-89976-017-4 510pp 6×9 inches
Hardback ISBN 979-8-89976-018-1 510pp 6×9 inches}