Films have remained in this era the pre-eminent domain for artistic expression in response to or as forms of intervention into the crisis of inequality that threatens to tear our world apart. The phenomenal global success of PARASITE or the Netflix series SQUID GAME, not to mention the high-profile attention granted to works like ROMA, NOMADLAND, SHOPLIFTERS and even JOKER, awarded top prizes and defining our zeitgeist, testify startlingly to our deepest feelings about inequality in the vivid form of cinematic dreams and nightmares.
Films have remained in this era the pre-eminent domain for artistic expression in response to or as forms of intervention into the crisis of inequality that threatens to tear our world apart. The phenomenal global success of PARASITE or the Netflix series SQUID GAME, not to mention the high-profile attention granted to works like ROMA, NOMADLAND, SHOPLIFTERS and even JOKER, awarded top prizes and defining our zeitgeist, testify startlingly to our deepest feelings about inequality in the vivid form of cinematic dreams and nightmares.
Under the guidance of film critic and lecturer Dr. Derek Lam, students and alumni of the MALCS (Master of Arts in Literary and Cultural Studies) programme at the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Comparative Literature will participate in a year-long series of workshops and guest events engaging in critical discussions of key films addressing inequality from the past decade or so selected by Dr. Lam and grouped into six thematic areas: HOME/FAMILY, MASTER/SERVANT, ROMANCE, VIOLENCE, PAST AS PRESENT, and DYSTOPIA.
Under the guidance of film critic and lecturer Dr. Derek Lam, students and alumni of the MALCS (Master of Arts in Literary and Cultural Studies) programme at the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Comparative Literature will participate in a year-long series of workshops and guest events engaging in critical discussions of key films addressing inequality from the past decade or so selected by Dr. Lam and grouped into six thematic areas: HOME/FAMILY, MASTER/SERVANT, ROMANCE, VIOLENCE, PAST AS PRESENT, and DYSTOPIA.
The project also has a public dimension: beyond student participation in workshops, the present website will serve as a community forum and online resource freely available to all intended to spread public awareness of the subject and to facilitate the open exchange of information. The website will be updated with additional resources as events take place, including interviews, talks, and presentations with film critics, scholars, and filmmakers. So stay tuned!
The project also has a public dimension: beyond student participation in workshops, the present website will serve as a community forum and online resource freely available to all intended to spread public awareness of the subject and to facilitate the open exchange of information. The website will be updated with additional resources as events take place, including interviews, talks, and presentations with film critics, scholars, and filmmakers. So stay tuned!
The financial crisis of 2007-2008 had severe repercussions worldwide that brought widespread social, economic, and political turmoil, leaving the system of globalized neoliberal capitalism that had been in place since the end of the Cold War in a state of existential crisis. At the heart of the crisis is wealth and income inequality, having risen dramatically (and now exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic) to become the defining characteristic of our times.
The financial crisis of 2007-2008 had severe repercussions worldwide that brought widespread social, economic, and political turmoil, leaving the system of globalized neoliberal capitalism that had been in place since the end of the Cold War in a state of existential crisis. At the heart of the crisis is wealth and income inequality, having risen dramatically (and now exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic) to become the defining characteristic of our times.
The financial crisis of 2007-2008 had severe repercussions worldwide that brought widespread social, economic, and political turmoil, leaving the system of globalized neoliberal capitalism that had been in place since the end of the Cold War in a state of existential crisis. At the heart of the crisis is wealth and income inequality, having risen dramatically (and now exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic) to become the defining characteristic of our times.
