European Workshop for Film Criticism #10
The European Network for Film Discourse (The END) and short film magazine Talking Shorts are organising the 10th European Workshop for Film Criticism, a two-part intensive programme for emerging film critics. The workshop will unfold during Lago Film Fest (Italy, July 2026) and Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival (Romania, September 2026).
This year’s edition centres on the blending of film criticism and interview, led by Yun-hua Chen. Over two immersive weeks, participants will delve into film critique, interview techniques, and festival coverage, combining theoretical input with hands-on technical expertise—from approaching short-film criticism to conducting interviews and ethically integrating them into an essay. By the end of the programme, each of the six participants will have developed and completed two essays.
The workshop consists of five workshop days in each city, complemented by extensive film screenings at both festivals to inspire and inform the critical work. Throughout the process, participants receive one-on-one editorial guidance from the tutors and guest mentors, with a selection of the finished essays featured on Talking Shorts.
Tutor
The workshop participants will be tutored by Yun-hua Chen, who holds a PhD in Film Studies from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and is a Taiwan-born film scholar, critic, and curator based in Berlin. She is an associate editor at Film International, an editor for Cinema of Commoning at Sinema Transtopia, and contributes as a film critic to Filmexplorer, the Goethe-Institut’s online platforms, Cinébulletion, Talking Shorts, Cinephilia, and other publications. Her monograph Mosaic Space and Mosaic Auteurs was published by Neofelis Verlag in Berlin. She is currently a member of the selection committees for Berlinale Shorts, Berlinale Forum, and Dokufest in Kosovo. She also sits on the advisory board of the German Film Critics Association (VdFk). Previously, she was the festival director of dokumentART in Neubrandenburg, Germany. She has served as a jury member at film festivals including Vila do Conde, Las Palmas, EMAF, and Beldocs, among others.
Application
The workshop is aimed at anyone over 18 who is interested in critical discursive work about (short) films and can participate in both units of the tandem workshop:
20—26.07.2026
Workshop at Lago Film Fest (Italy)
23—29.09.2026
Workshop at Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival (BIEFF)
The workshop is aimed at European residents who:
- have a strong interest and motivation to gain insight into film critique practices;
- are eager to learn/be mentored by industry professionals;
- are proficient in English (speaking and writing);
- can attend the programme entirely, i.e., participate in both units of the tandem workshop in Lago and Bucharest
The call is open from March 16 to April 20, 2026.
The results will be communicated by May 1, 2026.
