In Richard Brody’s essay “In Defense of the Traditional Review” for The New Yorker, he delivers a compelling call to action for the preservation of written film criticism in an age increasingly dominated by short-form content, video essays, vlogs, and social media posts. Brody argues that the traditional written review remains essential—not only as a historical and intellectual record of cinematic response, but also as the foundation upon which all contemporary forms of criticism are built.
HIFF45’s HOCCI (aka the Festival’s Young Critics program) will be revamped as a film screening series, with a focus on engaging audiences in thoughtful conversations around film. Internationally attending guest critics will each host a screening followed by an in-depth discussion with the audience, offering insights into the film’s themes, context, and cinematic craft. Each critic will also write an accompanying film review, to be published online, further expanding on their perspective and analysis. This series invites viewers to explore cinema through a critical and culturally engaged lens.
Three HIFF45 screenings will have an extended after-film discussion with film critics, who will also be the mentors to this year’s HOCCI cohort:
- October 18, 7:00pm — FWENDS
- October 26, 2:30pm — ON THE OTHER ISLAND: New Films and New Visions from the Dominican Republic
- October 26, 6:45pm — A USEFUL GHOST
We encourage audiences that will attend these screenings to hang back after the film to be a participate in the discourse!
Here are the film critics participating this year:
Duncan Caillard is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Communication Studies at Auckland University of Technology, and an incoming Lecturer in Global Creative Industries at the University of Melbourne. Duncan researches independent in the Asia-Pacific, and is the author of Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Contemplation and Resistance (Edinburgh University Press, December 2025).
Daryl Cheong is a filmmaker, programmer, critic, and community organiser from Singapore. He currently studies English at Nanyang Technological University, and is a recipient of the inaugural Talent Scholarship. Daryl is currently the President of the NTU Film Society AY24/25 and Editor-in-Chief of Exposure, the Film Society’s in-house publication (Print 2024 & 2025).
Emerson Goo is a Deaf writer, film programmer, and landscape designer/planner from and based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. He has written on film for publications such as Film Comment, MUBI Notebook, and Screen Slate, and on environmental design for Design Museum Everywhere and the New York Review of Architecture. He has curated films for the Honolulu Museum of Art and was a programming intern with the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival.
The HIFF ONLINE CREATIVES & CRITICS IMMERSIVE (HOCCI) program supports sustainable film criticism in Hawai’i through mentorship and paid career opportunities for Hawai’i-based AANHPI critics. The mission of HOCCI is to broaden diversity in film criticism across the Pacific and use influencer branding strategies to spark career opportunities. The 2025 HOCCI is supported by Critical Minded, a grant-making and learning initiative that supports cultural critics of color in the United States.
