2025 Chicago Film Critics Association & Rotten Tomatoes Emerging Critics Program Grant Recipients
DANIELLE MOMOH - Grant Recipient
Danielle Momoh (she/her) is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Cinema and Media studies at the University of Chicago. She is passionate about the intersection of film, feminism and race. Danielle is a Boston University graduate and is from Lagos, Nigeria.
Instagram @danielle_im
DANIELLA MAZZIO - Grant Recipient
Daniella Mazzio (she/her) is a Chicago-based writer, critic, consultant, and performer. Her work has been featured in Indiewire, Slate, Autostraddle, and The Boston Globe and is a regular contributor for the Chicago Reader. In addition to reviews, she's written about movie theater history, the preservation of Mexican and Latin American cinema, and film accessibility in Chicago. She has a BFA in Theatre Arts from DePaul University and is on Cinema/Chicago's Accessibility Advisory Committee.
@DaniellaMazzio on Instagram and Twitter/X
@daniellamazzio.bsky.social on Bluesky
Jordan Barrant - SPECIAL RECOGNITION / “Writer to watch”
Jordan Barrant is a Chicago-based writer, curator, and interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the cosmological intersections of the ineffable, the South, and the Caribbean. Through oral histories and archival research, Jordan views the past as an invitation to imagine brighter, more loving futures. She has written for Burnaway, the Boston Art Review, Chicago Reader and Black Embodiments Studio: A Year in Black Art.
Instagram: @ariesgurl101 and my website jordanbarrant.com.
Christian Craig (he/him/his) - SPECIAL RECOGNITION / “Writer to Watch”
Christian Craig is a writer and editor based in Chicago, Illinois. His writing has been featured on platforms including rogerebert.com, Bright Wall/Dark Room, Animus Magazine, and Broad Sound. He is a regular contributor to In Review Online and maintains the arts-and-culture Substack Blood Jump.
Instagram: @christiancraigdraws
Bluesky: christch.bsky.social
Farouk Kannout (he/him/his) - SPECIAL RECOGNITION / “Writer to Watch”
Farouk Kannout is an Arab game developer, writer and cultural critic with a passion for global perspectives in art and cinema. You can find him at a local independent theater in Chicago, or find his work at: https://faroukkannout.com/.