Dan Edwards

Dr Dan Edwards is an Australian journalist, critic and academic, and is currently a research fellow with the Research Unit in Public Cultures at Melbourne University. He is also a features editor for Senses of Cinema. His debut book, Independent Chinese Documentary: Alternative Visions, Alternative Publics, was published by Edinburgh University Press in May 2015.

From 2007-11, Dan was based in Beijing, China, where he worked for China Today and The Beijinger. Prior to living in China, he was the Managing Editor of the Australian Film Commission’s Communications Branch (2005-07) and the editor of the OnScreen section of RealTime (2003-05).

Dan’s articles have appeared in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Senses of Cinema, RealTime, Crikey, New Matilda, Metro, The Beijinger, Time Out Beijing and various academic journals.

Read an example of Dan’s work here.

Twitter handle:  @aidongyou

Website: danedwards.net

City I call home:  Melbourne (but Beijing and Sydney are also close to my heart).

Genre/style/region of cinema I am most passionate about: Documentary and cinema from the Asia region (especially China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan).

A film that changed me/my mind is: Petition (Zhao Liang, 2009) because it made me see China, where I was living at the time, in a totally new way.

MIFF 2015 film I’m most looking forward to: Jia Zhangke's Mountains May Depart - partly because Jia is one of my favourite filmmakers, and partly because my wife worked on the film.

I’m looking forward to Critics Campus because: I'm always excited to meet new people with common interests and help further Australia's film culture.

Cinema excites me because: It can open your eyes to worlds you never knew existed, and make you see your own world in an entirely new way.