Film Critic Justin Chang Wins a Pulitzer

Kudos to our friend and colleague Justin Chang, who has just won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism “for richly evocative and genre-spanning film criticism that reflects on the contemporary moviegoing experience.”

Formerly the chief critic at Variety before joining the Los Angeles Times in 2016, Justin recently left the L.A. paper to join The New Yorker, where he will assume the job of longtime critic Anthony Lane. He also contributes regularly to NPR’s “Fresh Air” and KPCC’s “FilmWeek”. He is the chair of the National Society of Film Critics and secretary of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Posting on Facebook, Justin acknowledged the support of the Los Angeles Times, which repeatedly submitted his work to the Pulitzer committee, and particularly thanked his editor there, Joshua Rothkopf.

“I’m still very much in shock and will be for a while,” he wrote. “I’m also exceedingly grateful to the Pulitzer Prize Board, the jurors who read and considered my work, my old L.A.Times colleagues and my new New Yorker colleagues.”

Known far and wide for his puns and his kindness, Justin has a vast following of friends around the world. He has supported The Film Verdict with encouragement and suggestions for new critics. Our publication was founded by trade reviewers looking for more opportunity to focus serious film criticism on world cinema and emerging filmmakers, so it is particularly heartening to see a sensitive and globally knowledgeable film critic like Justin win the Pulitzer Prize.