Tope Ogundare

Age: 27

Twitter handle: @tope_o

City I call home: Ideally, Fellini’s Rome or Woody Allen’s Manhattan; but for the moment Gosford will do.

Genre/style/region of cinema I am most passionate about: While I'm increasingly drawn to the horror and western genres, the films that never fail to get my juices flowing are those that overtly explore ideas/concepts and/or challenge conventional notions of what cinema can and cannot do; what it should or should not be.

A film that changed me/my mind is: Much to the chagrin of my dear podcast co-host, I have to say L’avventura because it was the first film that struck me as being a truly formal exercise in empathy, in addition to its being (alongside 2001: A Space Odyssey) one which actively sought/seeks to stretch and exhaust cinematic language.

MIFF 2015 film I’m most looking forward to is: Probably The Lobster, with the sincere hope that director Yorgos Lanthimos’ style and idiosyncrasies haven’t prolapsed from the weight of being an English language debut, as so many do.

I’m looking forward to Critics Campus because: Viewing, discussing and thinking/writing about cinema in the company of equally avid peers (and under the guidance of pro mentors) is an idea that is nothing short of very appealing.

Cinema excites me because: Apart from being a visual person, the fact that various art forms and modalities can be hybridised to create a singular and unique work means that cinema is quite possibly the richest and most versatile expressive medium we as humans possess, and will be even more so when full-body sensory suits are finally introduced.

A publication I’d one day like to write for: Film Comment, because it not only deepens my appreciation for and understanding of movies; it often quenches my thirst for good prose.

Favourite Critic and why: Roger Ebert will always garner my affections for his part in sparking my love for the movies, but for sheer wordsmanship and his nimble grasp of the ongoing cultural narrative of cinema, Jonathan Rosenbaum’s work excites me the most, despite his classifying Barry Lyndon a failure.

What listicle about MIFF would be most likely to go viral? 7 films for 7 vices: a guide to purging your soul at MIFF 2015.