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Robert Anderson Clift (also credited as Robert Clift or Robert A. Clift) is an American documentary filmmaker and academic. He is an Associate Professor in the Film and Media Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. Clift is the co-director of the documentary Making Montgomery Clift (2018) and the director of Blacking Up: Hip-Hop’s Remix of Race and Identity (2010) and Stealing Home: The Case of Contemporary Cuban Baseball (2001). His work often explores issues of identity, race, cultural performance, and media representation.

Clift is the son of journalist Eleanor Clift and William Brooks Clift Jr., the older brother of actor Montgomery Clift. He earned his undergraduate degree from Pomona College and completed his Ph.D. in Communication and Culture at Indiana University Bloomington.

Clift began his filmmaking career with the co-directed documentary ‘‘Stealing Home: The Case of Contemporary Cuban Baseball’’ (2001), which explores the political and cultural tensions surrounding the defection of Cuban baseball players to the United States.^[1]

His 2010 documentary, ‘‘Blacking Up: Hip-Hop’s Remix of Race and Identity’’, investigates the phenomenon of white appropriation of hip-hop aesthetics and Black performance traditions. The film examines the cultural implications of racial masquerade and identity play, particularly in the figure of the “wigger"--a white person who adopts stereotypical markers of Black urban culture. It was produced with support from ITVS and aired nationally on PBS. The Washington Post described it as “a thoughtful and provocative examination of race and culture,” and “artfully ruminative.^[2] The film has been used in academic settings to prompt discussions around race, performance, and cultural appropriation.

In 2012, Clift co-directed the documentary Road Comics: Big Work on Small Stages with Hillary Demmon. The film follows comedians Stewart Huff, Kristin Key, and Tim Northern as they perform in small towns across the United States. It looks at the challenges and rewards of doing stand-up comedy away from major cities and comedy hotspots. The film was produced in collaboration with cultural anthropologist Susan Seizer.^[3]

In 2018, Clift co-directed Making Montgomery Clift, co-directed with Hillary Demmon. The film revisits the legacy of his uncle, actor Montgomery Clift, challenging long-held myths of Clift as a tormented and self-destructive figure. Drawing on personal archives, audio recordings, and interviews, the documentary offers an alternative portrait emphasizing Clift’s humor, political engagement, and complex sexuality. The film holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[4]

Film scholar [[David Bordwell]] praised it as “an alternative to standard celebrity portraiture,” adding that it “makes biography an essay, an argument, and an act of criticism.”^[5] The New Yorker described it as “a fascinating study of the ethics of biography.”^[6] The Hollywood Reporter called it “refreshingly authentic and long overdue.”^[7] The Stranger noted, “Finally, someone gets Montgomery Clift’s biography right.”Burns, Chase.^[8] The Advocate emphasized that the film reveals “a side of Clift that had been hidden or distorted.”^[9]

• ‘‘Stealing Home: The Case of Contemporary Cuban Baseball’’ (2001)
• ‘‘Road Comics: Big Work on Small Stages’’ (2012)
• ‘‘Blacking Up: Hip-Hop’s Remix of Race and Identity’’ (2010)
• ‘‘Making Montgomery Clift’’ (2018)

• Robert Anderson Clift at IMDb
• Making Montgomery Clift – Official website
• Making Montgomery Clift – Official trailer on YouTube
• Blacking Up at California Newsreel
• Stealing Home: The Case of Contemporary Cuban Baseball at PBS
• Road Comics: Big Work on Small Stages – Official website