“Endlessly intriguing... Makes for some of the unlikeliest drama on the scene today.”
“RECOMMENDED. An excellent new documentary... For all his idiosyncrasies, Holstein and his gargantuan shtick provide an object lesson in how the medieval lecture format can still be made to work in our multimedia age.”
“GRADE: A- ... Professor has an electrifying subject in Holstein.”
“9/10 STARS! Another exceptional work by a filmmaker who finds masterpieces in the smallest of details. It is memorable, mesmerizing stuff.”
“The film affords the pleasures of a good college course... It’s hardly a coincidence that the best [Work Series film], Professor, follows the person with the most specialized profession, as well as the most outsized personality.”
“4/5 STARS! However ordinary working as a professor may be, this Professor is anything but.”
“Professor, the latest of these remarkable and remarkably minimalist films, feels like an argument for a certain kind of cinematic purity, the lack of artifice a testament to Kraus’s skill as both director and editor. As when in the hands of any good storyteller, the audience doesn’t really notice any overt style, just appreciates the immediacy of the story being told.”
“Kraus has a gift for finding tucked-away subjects who grow to epic proportions under his unrelenting gaze... Expect to find this one burning up the fest circuit in coming months... RIVETING STUFF.”
“Holstein is a compelling, complicated figure, and this is a film not to be missed.”
“RECOMMENDED.”
“It's not often that a film makes you want to pack your bags and move to Iowa to sign up for a college course, but that's exactly the reaction I had to this one.”
Chicago Reader gets in-depth about DK's films, books, and the rest of his wild career.
Movieline interviews DK about the past and future of the Work Series.
Tribeca Film interviews DK about Professor and the whole darn meaning of "work."
PopMatters interviews DK and Professor Jay Holstein.
The Daily Iowan interviews DK and Jay Holstine.
Photos from the screening/discussin at Brooklyn's Union Docs.
Professor gets hyped at Chicagoist, Hammer to Nail, and Chicago Magazine.
"I’d almost rather see a guy like Daniel Kraus — whose stunning observational job films Sheriff, Musician, and Professor have a more mainstream edge over the job-movie maestro Frederick Wiseman’s own, expansive approach — turned loose on this subject... Comic wouldn’t be such a bad follow-up." -Movieline
Cedar Rapids Gazette interviews DK and Jay Holstein about the Bijou Theater retrospective.
CQ Central interviews DK about Professor and the Work Series.
The Reeler can't wait for Professor to commence classes.
Cinema Purgatorio anticipates Professor.
Credit: Jonathan Johnson
Credit: Jonathan Johnson
Credit: Grant Rosenberg
