Introduction:
From Trial and Error to Visual Language
By Suchandrika Chakrabarti (UK)

Who is good at describing themselves? Who doesn't squirm when asked to do it? I think I'll start with the other things and perhaps that will describe me. So, why film? Well, the only plans I ever made were to go to university and study English, so the years since graduation have been largely consumed with figuring out the world of journalism through trial and error. The degree convinced me that I wanted to write in some way for a living.

I started writing about film after a fun and really productive first work experience placement at a London-based film magazine. I found that, despite having never studied film before, I enjoyed dissecting films like they were books, interviewing people who had followed their dreams to make a movie and discussing all those related subjects.

In 2006, I took a film journalism course at the British Film Institute, and one of the most important lessons was that film has to be written about in terms of its visual language. I realised that treating films in the same way as books often meant ignoring the significance of the cinematography, or composition or choreography of a scene, which is what makes it a unique art form.

The newest challenge to the situation of film critics in the UK is probably one of getting to grips with online culture. Fifteen years ago, there were only a few privileged voices on film in the broadsheets and a few magazines, but now everyone can publish their opinion on films if they wish, through blogging or contributing to a site. This is a good thing in terms of giving new talent a chance, but has also increased the competition for a generation who grew up without the internet.

I think some of my recent work has reflected the growing trend in UK — and world cinema — towards making overtly political films. In the past few months, I have spoken to the British makers of films about rendition and the erosion of civil liberties in the UK; and I have seen directors Nick Broomfield (Battle for Haditha) and Paul Greengrass, known for United 93, interviewed at the London Film Festival. My interest in this area of film has increased as I have covered more and more examples of this growing trend. With the world being the way that it is, this wave of movies is not likely to disappear soon, either in the UK, or globally.

Suchandrika Chakrabarti

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