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Arts & Entertainment

Justin Chang Wins Pulitzer For Film Criticism At LA Times

An Asian man speaks into a mic while seated on stage with two other men, both with light-tone skin.
Justin Chang, right, speaks on stage at LAist's Oscar preview this year with fellow FilmWeek critic Manuel Betancourt and host Larry Mantle. Chang, now with the New Yorker, won a Pulitzer for criticism for his work at the L.A. Times.
(
James Van Evers
/
for LAist
)

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Topline:

Film critic Justin Chang clinched a Pulitzer for his criticism work during his time at the L.A. Times, which he left earlier this year for The New Yorker. He was judged on works including an essay defending storytelling decisions made in Oppenheimer and a negative review of The Holdovers, which had been embraced by most of his colleagues.

What they’re saying: The Pulitzer Prize Board praised Chang for his “richly evocative and genre-spanning film criticism that reflects on the contemporary moviegoing experience.”

Where you’ve heard him: Chang is a regular FilmWeek guest on LAist 89.3 and movie critic for NPR's Fresh Air.

Multiple award-winner: Chang, a former chief film critic at Variety, was twice named film critic of the year by the Los Angeles Press Club. In 2014, he won the very first Roger Ebert award for diversity in film journalism from the African American Film Critics Associations.

Active in the industry: Chang chairs the National Society of Film Critics and serves as the secretary of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. He’s also a member of the New York Film Festival selection committee.

USC ties: Chang is a 2004 graduate of the University of Southern California, where he teaches at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

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