Many members of the Film Studies Department at King’s are active film critics, writing regularly for magazines such as Sight & Sound, Frieze, Artforum, and Art Monthly. Drawing on their academic expertise, these scholar-critics participate in shaping the wider conversation around cinema and art, and communicate their research to the general public. Whether it involves reviewing a new release, covering a film festival or writing a feature article, staff members from all across the Department have become active contributors to a vibrant culture of film criticism in the UK and internationally.
What is more, through their regular articles and features for leading publications, many of the Department’s female experts in film have helped to broaden the range of voices and perspectives present in what remains a notably male-dominated field.
Running annually since 2011, Chinese Visual Festival (CVF) is a leading cultural event showcasing contemporary cinema and art from around the Chinese language speaking world. CVF features documentaries, fiction and experimental art from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tibet and beyond. It brings audiences a carefully curated selection of the most cutting-edge and challenging works from new and established artists and directors alike.
Since its inception, CVF has brought to the UK a long list of prominent guests including Jia Zhangke, Cao Fei, Zhou Hao, Wu Wuna, Gu Tao, Yee Chih-yen, while running panel sessions and workshops at King’s College London. With events throughout the year and regular collaborations with the British Film Institute, DocHouse and other organisations in the UK and around the world, CVF continues to be a popular fixture on the London cultural calendar.
King’s Film Studies Department has a programming partnership with the British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank, King’s@BFI. Inaugurated in 2009, the series runs several times per year. It presents public lectures by some of the world’s leading film scholars, as part of BFI film seasons. Since the first lecture by Professor Richard Dyer on Lena Horne in 2009, the series has hosted experts on national cinemas, genres, directors and film theories, including Professors Dudley Andrew, Thomas Elsaesser, and Ginette Vincendeau.
In recent years we have welcomed Professor Barbara Klinger speaking on the crime thriller and Dr. Song Hwee Lim, a leading scholar of Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang. BFI Study Days provide a venue for the public to engage with recent scholarship on pressing topics such as black stardom and the romantic comedy.