Youth Critics Programme

The Youth Critics Programme provides mentorship and encourages writing in response to the festival programme. It aims to nurture a new generation of film writers who can contribute to Asian and Southeast Asian film discourse. A panel of industry experts will also share about what it means to think and write about cinema.

In an exciting departure from past editions, participants this year will collectively produce a post-festival publication that will be released online in February 2023. One of the participants will receive the Youth Critic Award for their originality of writing and for contributing to cinematic discussions in the region.

Mentor

Phoebe PUA

Singapore

Phoebe Pua is a film researcher and programmer specialising in Southeast Asian and contemporary independent cinemas. More broadly, her work explores gender, sexuality, and race in popular media. Her writing has been published in journals such as Feminist Media Studies, Language in Society and Discourse, Context, and Media.

Since 2019, Phoebe has been hosting interviews and open Q&As with filmmakers working in Southeast Asia. She has also given public talks on the region’s screen cultures at events hosted by the Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film, Singapore Art Museum, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and SGIFF. Phoebe co-programmed Turf Wars: The Tropics and Cinema in Southeast Asia (2021) with NUS Museum as well as Dislocating/Locating Southeast Asia/Trinh T. Minh-ha (2020–21) with Nurul Huda Rashid and NTU Centre for Contemporary Art.