After all, what is film criticism and film critic? What were the fiercest arguments in the history of film criticism? What are the best film criticism pieces ever written? Finally, is film criticism necessary anymore?
You cannot, without any doubt, make a living by writing about film in Hong Kong; all film critics in Hong Kong are on part-time basis. In America, the most trending news about film criticism is that more and more critics got fired by their media. Deep in the age of social media, it seems that film review and criticism do not worth a penny. There are as many pieces as you like if you care to google it.
As the saying goes, "It was the worst of times, it was the best of times”, film criticism is facing the most daunting challenge and yet myriad of chances are on the horizon. Film criticism calls for expertise in Film and Criticism. The best kind of writing in film criticism can be as inspiring as beacon light. It should not only be read but also studied, and studied strenuously.
This course is NOT going to teach you how to write film criticism, but we will go through the history of film criticism, imaging the future of film and film criticism by reading a number of canonical texts in Chinese and in English. And, if the situation allows, we can also try our own hands on writing about films.
Focuses of the course:
• What is film criticism? How many kind of film criticism are there?
• The present and past of film criticism; the polemics of Wong Kar-wai films
• What is “Auteur Theory”?
• Film Criticism and writing style
• Close reading on film criticism
• Video essay and film criticism in the contemporary age
Introduction to Film Criticism
Course Information
Course Code:EEXC_6FEB2024C
Discipline: Film & Television
Tutor: David Chan, Fung Ka Ming
Teaching Medium: Cantonese
Age Limit: 16 or above
Course Schedule
Period: 06 February 2024 - 02 April 2024
(No class date: 13 February 2024)
Day of week: Tuesday
Time: 7:30pm - 10:00pm
Location: HKAPA, Wan Chai
Number of Sessions: 8
Course Fee
Regular fee: HK$ 2,800
Price Options
A discount may be offered to the following applicants. Please enter coupon code when checkout.
Early Bird Discount (10%)
( until 15 Jan 2024)
[coupon code: EB2024]
Senior citizen card holders (10%)
[coupon code: SENIORCITIZEN]
Holders of registration card for people with disabilities (10%)
[coupon code: REGDISABLED]
Full-time students (16 years old or above) (20%)
[coupon code: FULLTIMESTUDENT20]
Card holders of Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers (10%)
[coupon code: HKFEWMEM]
The discount is only applicable to such card holders themselves. The card holders cannot enrol on behalf of other parties with the discount offers.
EXCEL reserves the right to a final decision in case of any disputes.
Tutor's Profile
Tutor: David Chan
His writing on film critics has been published in Ming Pao, Ming Pao Weekly, Hong Kong Economic Journal, p-articles and Today Literary Magazine etc. A guest lecturer at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Co-curator of the “Cult Film Festival” in 2016 and 2018, and also the curator of “The Cinema of Todd Haynes” in 2017. The First Round and Second Round Professional Adjudicators at the Hong Kong Film Awards. A member of Hong Kong Film Critics Society.
David is a Cultural Studies graduate from Lingnan University, co-founder of Phone Made Good Film Ltd. He was the screenplay, director and editor of Phone Made Good Film short films Queens of Spades, Queen of Hearts and Here and There.
Tutor: Fung Ka Ming
Renowned film critics in Hong Kong. He has been teaching on part-time basis for many years in various tertiary institutions in Hong Kong and also at the Academy.
