The Film Society of Lincoln Center Monday announced the surprise departure of Robert Koehler, and the appointment of critic and programmer Dennis Lim as Director of Cinematheque Programming.
Koehler will step down immediately and return to Los Angeles to focus on personal matters.
“Bob brought a lot of fresh new ideas and innovation to the Film Society during his tenure and we are sorry to see him go. We wish him and his family well and send him our support during this challenging time,” said Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Executive Director Rose Kuo.
With Lim, she said, “we will continue to move forward in a new direction while maintaining our commitment to excellence…Dennis’ knowledge about our organization, his important contributions to film writing and his talent as a programmer make him an ideal partner and leader in the organization’s development and growth.”
Koehler expressed “a sense of regret, particularly the feeling of personal separation from a wonderful staff and programming team, as well as absolute confidence, given the entrance of Dennis Lim.”
Lim will start his new role April 1 overseeing the year-round retrospectives, festivals and screening series.
In the interim, Kent Jones, Director of Programming for the New York Film Festival, will expand his current duties and oversee all programming.
“I’m excited and honored to be joining an institution that has played a central role in the vitality of New York film culture and meant a great deal to me personally as a writer and a moviegoer,” said Lim.
Lim has been a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Artforum and Cinema Scope and the Village Voice, where he was the film editor from 2000 to 2006. He is the founding editor of Moving Image Source, the online magazine of the Museum of Moving Image in New York, where he has organized film series and retrospectives. He teaches in the Cultural Reporting and Criticism graduate program at New York University’s Journalism Institute and served on the New York Film Festival selection committee from 2009 to 2011.
