Film Criticism & Dialogue

with Kaleem Aftab

Film criticism is not only a description of the latest film in cinema and how the journalist evaluates it, it can rather be understood as an important contribution to open a dialogue, for the audience as well as for the filmmaker him/herself. NUFF is an important arena for this dialogue.
With this project we expand our work for the first time in this direction. We want the young participants coming from diverse cultural backgrounds to increase their range and competency in discussions with professional film critics and other filmmakers. We anticipate an enrichment especially against the background of politically motivated films.

The British film critic Kaleem Aftab will arrange a seminar where he explains film from his perspective of film criticism. This seminar will develop into a series of Q&A’s with films and their young filmmakers selected from the NUFF film competition and culminate in a Q&A session with the professional Danish-Palestinian filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel in connection with a screening of his short-films. 2 young film students from Al Kalima University in Bethlehem will particularly follow this process and contribute with their experience as young filmmakers under the situation of occupation in Palestine.

Kaleem Aftab is a film producer, writer and critic of 19 years standing. Internationally renowned for conducting engaging interviews, observing cinema trends and populating film festivals, He is an engaging, critical and inimitable feature of the film world with an international fan base. Mr. Aftab authored the official Spike Lee biography, That’s My Story and I’m Sticking To It.

The seminar will aim on the importance of film criticism, how and why we criticise film the way we do. What is important when evaluating a film, and how should you as a filmmaker handle criticism? Is there a right or a wrong way of criticising film? And why do film reconcile different with different audiences?

The seminar will take about an hour and a half and will be hosted in English at Tvibit.

The seminar part of a special framework of NUFF 2019 where Kaleem will present & discuss short films of NUFF-mentor Mahdi Fleifel (NUFF-Special Saturday 30th 21:00 at VT) and discuss “live” three films selected from the current NUFF film program (program 3 Saturday 29th 17:00 at VT).

The program is supported by Fritt Ord and the local organisation Palestinakomiteen Tromsø.