Yamagata Film Criticism Workshop
This project encourages people to read and write about the world through the lens of documentary film, while immersed in the lively atmosphere of a film festival. Professional film critics advise the participants, who write their own articles about films, to be published on a dedicated website during the festival.
Docu-Yama Live! website: Yamagata Film Criticism Workshop
Course in Japanese: Oct 10 (Fri)–14 (Tue)
Course in English: Oct 10 (Fri)–14 (Tue)
Mentor of Course in Japanese: Kitakoji Takashi
Film critic, professor at Kyoto University of the Arts. His film criticism appears in the Asahi Shimbun, among other places. Author of Wong Kar-Wai teki renai (INFAS Publications, 2005), and co-author of Edward Yang: saiko/saiken (Film Art sha, 2017), Apichatpong Weerasethakul: hikari to kioku no artist (Film Art sha, 2016), Hikizuru eiga (Film Art sha, 2011), Zero nendai + no eiga (Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2011), Pedro Costa: toi heya kara no koe (Sendai Mediatheque, 2007), Eiga no seijigaku (Seikyusha, 2003) and Aoyama Shinji Chronicles (Little More, 2023).
Mentor of Course in English: Patrick F. Campos
Patrick F. Campos is a film scholar and professor at the University of the Philippines Film Institute, author of The End of National Cinema (2016) and Scenes Reclaimed (2021), editor-in-chief of the Philippine journal of cinema and moving image Pelikula, programmer of Tingin Southeast Asian Film Festival, and member of NETPAC and FIPRESCI. He has programmed, juried, or served on the selection committee for Singapore, Kolkata, Guanajuato, and QCinema International Film Festivals, Jogja and Vesoul Asian Film Festivals, Jakarta Film Week, Festival Film Dokumenter, Cinemalaya, Cinema One, Image Forum, Minikino, SeaShorts, and others. His recent programs include “Inland, Island” (Asian Film Archive), “Worlds We Are” (Museum of Contemporary Art and Design), and “I Did It My Way: Artistic Risks and Spectacles of Erasure” (DLS-CSB, ArtsEquator).
Mentor of Course in English: Chris Fujiwara
Chris Fujiwara is a film critic and programmer. He has written and edited several books on cinema, has contributed to many anthologies and journals, and was the editor of Undercurrent, the film criticism magazine of FIPRESCI. He has lectured widely on film criticism, film history, and film programming. Formerly artistic director of Edinburgh International Film Festival, he has also developed film programs for many other institutions. He has organized or served as a mentor for film criticism and film programming workshops not only at YIDFF, but also at the Berlin International Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Japan Foundation and other institutions.
Symposium
Yamagata Film Criticism Workshop
Discussion: The Future of Documentary Film Criticism
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How should we envision the roles of documentary filmmaking and criticism in the global political climate of today? A discussion with critics and filmmakers about the potentials of documentary film criticism in these difficult times.
- Date: Oct 12 (Sun) 15:00–17:00
- Venue: Yamagata Creative City Center Q1 (2-C)
- 25 seats, event is in English with Japanese interpretation
- Panelists to include:
- Kitakoji Takashi (Film critic)
Patrick F. Campos (Film critic)
Chris Fujiwara (Film critic)
Chung Pei-hua (Taiwan International Documentary Festival programmer) and others
Film Criticism Collective Books
Essays and reviews by participants and mentors in previous Yamagata Film Criticism Workshops have been published in three books. Film Criticism Collective 1 contains texts from the YIDFF 2015 workshop. Film Criticism Collective 2 contains texts from the workshop at Salamindanaw Asian Film Festival 2016 (General Santos, Philippines). Film Criticism Collective 3 contains texts from the workshops at YIDFF 2019 and Cinema Rehiyon 2020 (Naga, Philippines). All three books are in both English and Japanese and were published with the support of the Japan Foundation Asia Center. Electronic copies are available at the link below.
Film Criticism Collective 1 | Film Criticism Collective 2 | Film Criticism Collective 3