Università Roma Tre

Film criticism has undergone substantial changes in recent years. Marginalized from the pages of newspapers, where film reviews have largely been replaced by news and interviews with talents, film criticism propagate on the web and on social media, in new and "unorthodox" forms. Film critics are increasingly less remunerated, but the web as a "showcase" is increasingly important as a launch pad to new careers, such as that of "programmer" for festivals and film exhibitions.
This Lab offers an excursus in the history of film criticism, with particular reference to the Italian and French cases, but the historical knowledge and lectures will be mixed with collective discussions and analysis of some relevant texts. A consistent part of the Lab will be devoted to decoding the "review form", with its rhetorical codes and communicative formulas, the contemporary panorama will be also analyzed, with all the opportunities offered by the web and connected to the film critic's activity. In order to be more pragmatical, part of the Lab will focus on "how" to become a film critic, on the role of the trade union (SNCCI) and its functions, on the system of previews and press offices, on film critic activity and its calendar, with particular attention to the international festivals’ coverage, the relationships with press offices, rules and embargoes, the editorial planning of the coverage of an international festival.
Students will be asked to produce a critical text: a written review or a video review, or an interview, or a video essay, or a podcast.

La critica cinematografica: un’introduzione di Claudio Bisoni, Archetipolibri
La critica cinematografica: metodo, storia e scrittura di Claudio Bisoni, Archetipolibri
La critica cinematografica di Alberto Pezzotta, Carocci
Culture del film. La critica cinematografica e la società italiana di Michele Guerra (a cura di), Sara Martin (a cura di), Il Mulino