David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at theChicago Reader and theChicago Tribune, he later wrote a weekly column forThe New York Times on DVD releases. He later became a curator within the department of film at theMuseum of Modern Art.

Dave Kehr did his undergraduate work at theUniversity of Chicago, where he studied English. He learned French in part to readCahiers du cinéma. At the time the university did not have a film studies curriculum. He started writing on film forThe Maroon, the student newspaper, when he was president of the film society,Doc Films.^[1]

From 1974 to 1985, Kehr wrote forThe Chicago Reader, where he established a reputation for independent thinking and an understanding of visual style.^[1] Until 1978, he editedThe Reader's question and answer column, "The Straight Dope".^[2]

He next wrote as a film critic forThe Chicago Tribune (1986–1992). He moved to the East Coast to become film critic for theNew York Daily News (1993–1998).^[1] In 1995, he was a member of the jury at the45th Berlin International Film Festival.^[3] Kehr is a past chairman of theNational Society of Film Critics, and a member of theNational Film Preservation Board of theLibrary of Congress.

Beginning in 1999, Kehr wrote a weekly column forThe New York Times on DVD releases, also contributing occasional pieces on individual filmmakers or films. While at theTimes, Kehr also produced a film blog, with reviews of films and occasional comment pieces.

Kehr left theNew York Times in late 2013 to work as Adjunct Curator in the film department of theMuseum of Modern Art.^[4] In 2017, he was promoted to curator.^[5]

Kehr participated in the2012Sight & Sound critics' poll, where he listed his ten favorite films as follows:The Big Trail,Contempt,The Docks of New York,Intolerance,Journey to Italy,Make Way for Tomorrow,Playtime,Sansho the Bailiff,The Searchers, andVertigo.^[6]

In 2017, Kehr was named a Chevalier of theOrdre des Arts et des Lettres, a cultural award given by the French government.^[5]

• Kehr, Dave (2003).Italian Film Posters. New York: The Museum of Modern Art.
• Kehr, Dave (2011).When Movies Mattered: Reviews from a Transformative Decade. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Kehr, Dave (2017).Movies That Mattered: More Reviews from a Transformative Decade. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Dave Kehr's BlogArchived January 15, 2007, at theWayback Machine
• "Dave Kehr", Recent and archived articles,The New York Times
• An interview with Dave Kehr onThe Marketplace of Ideas
• An interview with Dave Kehr inThe Village VoiceArchived December 16, 2014, at theWayback Machine