We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Weiting Liu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Weiting, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Any advice for creating a more inclusive workplace?

I have established my career as a professional film critic and film festival programmer, combining my passion for film with my identity as a Chinese woman living in America. Incorporating my knowledge of global cultures, I write about onscreen representations of race, gender, and intersectionality. Advocating for inclusivity in film has been my cause as a critic ever since.

I am trying to reach a larger international audience who is interested in the original works of filmmakers from diverse backgrounds. As a native of China, I can delineate the cultural contexts and nuances of world cinema which most western critics are not aware of. As a woman of color, I also speak to the audience who is eager to learn about underrepresented films and filmmakers from the LGBTQ+ community and ethnic and cultural minority groups.

I am a regular contributor to Mediaversity Reviews. I love the publication’s dedication to onscreen inclusivity and lifting up minority critics in pragmatic aspects such as striving for equal pay, and providing us with the exposures we deserve in industries that still favor privileged groups.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

While I was attending a typical Chinese high school, I became friends with my English teacher, a cinephile of world cinema like me. He taught me to write my first-ever pieces of film criticism in English.

My love for cinema and writing about cinema sustains throughout the next decade of my adulthood in America. I built my entire academic life around film criticism at UCLA where I received my B.A. in Sociology and Film, and then at Chapman University where I received my M.A. in Film Studies.

Having become a professional critic, I purposefully contribute to prestige independent publications including Little White Lies and Mediaversity Reveiws which value original, lesser-heard voices and quality writing rather than clickbaits and cliches. My mission to promote onscreen diversity and world cinema through independent journalism aligns with my arthouse focus and research oriented, in-depth style.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I started my career as a professional film critic and film festival programmer in the height of COVID-19, It was arguably the toughest start one could ever confront. But I persevered throughout the myriad hardships such as the closures of film festivals and in-person screenings – and tried my best to explore alternative options such as covering mobile festivals and virtual cinema.

There was very little content to cover, and the film publications were all facing logistical and financial challenges. I soon realized that in this interconnected industry, we all need to help each other out. So I sought out and wrote about a variety of online distributors such as virtual cinemas and independent mobile film festivals. The publications I pitched these ideas to were all very glad that they had meaningful content to publish.

I have also been very conscious of tying my criticism to the importance of caring for the ethnic and cultural minorities during the global health and socioeconomic crisis. In my reviews of films about underrepresented communities, I make sure to raise awareness that this hard time is when these communities need help the most.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I’m the chief director and judge of the first and second Los Angeles International Culture Film Festival. I led the festival committee by coordinating various departments of logistics, finance, marketing and film submission. I was also in charge of writing the festival proposal for acquiring festival funds from private investors and academic institutions. I gained full financial support from prestigious universities including UCLA and USC. It great helped that I communicated with international filmmakers and invited award winners from first-tier film festivals (Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Montreal, Tokyo, Shanghai) to submit their works and attend the festival event. In addition, I established a professional network by inviting industry professionals and film scholars to join the festival as judges and guests.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critics/weiting-liu/movies
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bangsongliu/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weiting-liu-83084b132/