Glenn Dunks
FREELANCE FILM CRITIC, CULTURE JOURNALIST, PRESENTER, COPYWRITER, EDITOR and SOCIAL MEDIA/MARKETING EXECUTIVE
Two-time AFCA Award-winning film critic.
AFCA, OFCS, GALECA, FIPRESCI member.
Rotten Tomatoes Accredited.
WELCOME,
Glenn Dunks is an award-winning film critic from Melbourne, Australia.
​
For ten years, Glenn has been an active part of the Australian film scene as a critic and journalist. Getting his start with the Geelong/Surf Coast-based street press Forte Magazine, he progressed to writing regularly for Trespass and Onya Magazine as well as his personal blog.
​
In 2010, Glenn began writing film reviews and features for Australian print institution The Big Issue. In the following decade, he has contributed to world-renowned publications such as The Guardian, Vanity Fair and The Film Experience where he covers documentary film on a weekly basis. In Australia, his work has been published across outlets including Metro Magazine, ScreenHub, Flicks Australia, Junkee, SBS Film, SBS Sexuality, Broadsheet, Quickflix, Concrete Playground and the online edition of Overland Journal. He is also the regular film critic for Air Nuigini's Paradise Magazine. His work has been republished by IndieWire’s Women and Hollywood blog and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance union’s quarterly print publication The Equity Magazine. He has also been spotlighted by The Age.
​
Email me at: glenndunks@gmail.com
WANT TO CONNECT?
In 2013 he sat on the FIPRESCI Jury for the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival alongside Vincent Musetto and Mario Abbade, awarding their top prize to Sébastien Betbeder's Nights with Théodore. In 2014, he joined the FIPRESCI Jury of the 25th Stockholm International Film Festival alongside Quirijn Foeken and Dieter Wieczorek, with the award going to Savario Costanzo’s Hungry Hearts starring Adam Driver. In 2020, Glenn joined the 'virtual' DOK Leipzig festival with Yun-hua Chen and Hrvoje Puksek, awarding Dario Doria's Vincenta. Later in 2016, he was on the competition jury for the 2nd Czech & Slovak Film Festival of Australia alongside Hayley Inch and Tom Clift, awarding Marko Skop’s Eva Nova. Additionally, he has worked as a programming consultant for the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Sydney Underground Film Festival. In 2019, he moderated an industry panel Q&A at the Environmental Film Festival of Australia for the film Grit. Glenn has also been a judge on the ATOM Awards documentary selection panels across four separate years. In 2022, he became a voter for the Golden Globe Awards. In 2023, he was once again accepted as an international voter for the awards.
​
Glenn has attended and/or covered a further variety of other festivals including Sundance, New York, Tribeca, DOC NYC, NewFest, BAMcinemaFest, Dances with Films, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne Queer, Mardi Gras Film Festival, and a variety of local cultural film events including the Russian, French and Spanish film festivals and AFI/AACTA Awards. In 2013 he also attended and covered the Twin Peaks Festival in North Bend, Washington State.
​
As an interviewer, Glenn has spoken to some of the most accomplished and respected names in film in Australia and the world. Filmmakers and artists including Tim Burton, Amy Adams, John Waters, Margaret Cho, Guy Maddin, Isaac Julien, Neil Armfield, Rachel Perkins, Sam Neill, Jamie Babbit, Grímur Hákonarson, Stephen Dunn, Andrew Ahn, Grant Scicluna, Matt Sobel, Christoph Waltz, Krysten Ritter, Sophie Hyde, Bentley Dean, Sara Jordenö, Max Gogarty, William Fairman, Nickolas Bird, Poppy Stockell, Charlie Hill-Smith, Nick Eynaud, Lucy Fry and John Jarratt.
​
In 2014, Glenn won the Australian Film Critics Association’s prestigious Ivan Hutchinson Award for Writing on Australian Cinema for his article titled ‘Launching The Rocket: Beyond the Typical Australian Film’, featured in Metro Magazine’s issue no. 178 (read here). He won a second AFCA Award, the Award for Best Review of an Individual non-Australian Film for his review of Laura Poitras’ documentary Risk (read here) at The Film Experience. These awards were anonymously voted on by panels of esteemed Australian film industry professionals. He is a member of AFCA as well as the Online Film Critics Society, the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association and FIPRESCI, and is an accredited critic on Rotten Tomatoes.
​
On radio, Glenn was a regular guest film contributor to JOY 94.9 programs The Outland Institute hosted by John Richards, Saturday Magazine, and The Informer. He also contributed to Triple RRR and Monocle 24 Radio, based out of London, UK. He has also appeared on podcasts including Hell is for Hyphenates, The Mixed Reviews, Fighting in the War Room, The Film Experience Podcast, and The Rereaders.
​
Outside of film, Glenn has covered a range of topics including food, health and fitness, LGBTQ issues, travel, music, television and theatre for a range of publications including Same Same, AWOL, Insider Guides, The Cusp, Weekly Gravy and Lady Clever.
​
Glenn has written three infotainment books distributed through Wilkinson Publishing. They are Cannes Film Festival: 70 Years, Sinatra: 100 Years and Dylan: 75 Years. He has also contributed to Intellect Books’ World Film Locations: Melbourne, edited by Neil Mitchell. Additionally, his writing has been quoted in McFarland & Company’s Australian Horror Films 1973–2010 written by Peter Shelley, and Emily Herbert’s George Michael – The Life: 1963-2016: The Man, The Legend, The Music published by John Blake.
From 2016 to 2018, Glenn has worked in the role of Marketing Executive for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Run out of Brisbane City Council’s tourism and events arm, Brisbane Marketing, the role included writing and editing of all APSA content and marketing collateral including guest programme, website, letters and press releases, social media, banners and online advertorial, plus head speech-writer for APSA Chairman, Michael Hawkins.
He has additionally worked in copywriting, content creation, social media and program editing roles for the Sydney Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, and the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival. He has worked in marketing for the Department of Education and Training and Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning within the Victorian Government and has also done commercial copywriting for CoSec Consulting plus performed English-comprehension editing for international film critic organisation FIPRESCI. He also written scripts for and presented segments of “Bytes”, a free mini-program available on the Ozflix film streaming platform. He also presented several categories on stage at the inaugural Ozflix Film Awards in 2018.
​
___