The role of film critics and scholars in the development of film industry in Japan and China

Abstract

Film is a product of collective work and the development of the film industry from its beginning to the present state of globalization has gone through various stages. Different cultural intermediaries have been playing different roles in this process, but the work done by scholars and film critics has often been neglected. This chapter aims to investigate what sort of work they are doing and how they could contribute to the development and globalization of film industry in East Asia. An interview was conducted with an award-winning cinematographer who is also a lecturer at the Academy of Film and was one of The Oscar's Board of Judges in 2016. Another interviewee is a renowned film critic who has published a number of books and articles on Japanese cinema. It is intriguing to discover that the kinds of influence that scholars and film critics have had on shaping the film industry is far more than expected. Directly or indirectly, the contributions that they have made are tremendous and everlasting. With a detailed account and analysis of the interviewees’ work, this research project aims to bring some new insights into the understanding of the development of Chinese and Japanese cinema.