What is the role of film criticism? This question has never been settled, and today it is more contested than ever before. We have collectively transitioned from the era of the salaried, professional, regular critic in newspapers, magazines or TV – the presumed voice of authority – to a new world of commentators on the internet and elsewhere demanding practices of ethical responsibility in relation to matters of inclusiveness and diversity. The challenge now is to meaningfully interrelate politics with aesthetics, social issues with creativity (whether individual or collective) and content with style – without preconceptions.
For this session, Critics’ Choice curators Jan Pieter Ekker and Dana Linssen have collaborated with the participants of this edition’s Young Film Critics – a programme hosted by IFFR in which motivated and talented critics from outside The Netherlands join the life of the festival and imbibe World Cinema at its most exciting. The programme challenges these up and coming critics to respond passionately, and in new ways, to the films and other works presented at IFFR.
Filmmakers selected for IFFR 2023 will be invited on stage to discuss film criticism and other related topics with the Young Critics. Their lively conversation will be accompanied by film fragments and video essays.
