“A. S. Hamrah’s writing on film is a delight. . .  Like all the best criticism, his writing makes art and life feel less lonely.” —Elif Batuman

A.S. Hamrah is single-handedly re-inventing film criticism with a unique archive of unfortunate movie bulletins published in the best indie print journals and magazines, and compiled for his beloved weekly newsletter. His two most recent books, Last Week in End Times Cinema (Semiotext(e)) and Algorithm of the Night (n+1) are R&D Store best-sellers. Join Hamrah for a conversation about film, filmmakers, critical writing, and the state of movies in 2026.

Can’t make the event? Order A. S. Hamrah’s books here, and we’ll get them signed for you.

About the artist:

A.S. Hamrah is a film critic and writer. He is the author of Algorithm of the Night: Film Writing 2019-2025 (Semiotext(e)) and Last Week in End Times Cinema (n+1). He writes for a variety of publications, including The New York Review of Books, Bookforum, Fast Company, n+1, The Nation, and The Criterion Collection. From 2008 to 2016, he worked as a brand and trend analyst for the television industry, and he produced a documentary feature which was the opening-night film at the Museum of Modern Art’s Doc Fortnight 2022. In addition, he has worked as a political pollster, a football cinematographer, and for the director Raúl Ruiz. He lives in New York.

Core support for the Department of Public Programs is provided by the WLS Spencer Foundation.

Major support is generously provided by the national Leadership in Art Museums (LAM) initiative funded by the Alice L. Walton Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and Pilot House Philanthropy; the Feigenbaum Foundation; and the Ruth E. Proud Charitable Trust.

Support is also provided by Anonymous (2); the Avangrid Foundation, in partnership with Berkshire Gas Company; the Robert Lehman Foundation; Berkshire Bank; Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; and MountainOne.