David Miranda Hardy

This was less a film class and more a hostage situation with subtitles. Professor Miranda Hardy seemed allergic to enthusiasm, discussion, or literally anything resembling engagement. Lectures consisted of monotone readings from Wikipedia-level notes, with the occasional name-drop of obscure directors to remind us they once watched a movie. The syllabus was a mess — outdated films with no clear thematic connection, and when students asked why we were watching anything, the response was either a sigh or silence. Also, he was just a total jerk during personal conversation unless you were a quirky art kid! Class participation counted for a huge chunk of the grade, but trying to speak was like shouting into the void. Either you were ignored, interrupted, or corrected with bizarre tangents that made even less sense than the films. Grading? Completely arbitrary. I got a B+ on a paper that I literally submitted blank as a test. Worst of all, they somehow made film — FILM! — boring. This class killed my love for cinema. I walked in wanting to be the next Scorsese. I left wanting to burn my Criterion Collection. Run. Don’t walk. This is not education — it’s cinematic punishment.

This was less a film class and more a hostage situation with subtitles. Professor Miranda Hardy seemed allergic to enthusiasm, discussion, or literally anything resembling engagement. Lectures consisted of monotone readings from Wikipedia-level notes, with the occasional name-drop of obscure directors to remind us they once watched a …Read more

One of my favourite and most impactful classes at Middlebury. It gave me an absolute creative freedom that helped me widen my perspective on what a film can look like and what it can be about. Great readings and screenings! Feedback from the professor was on point and fair, with valuable insights on how to improve. It is a lot of filming about yourself, being honest and sometimes vulnerable in front of the group, but I recommend to everyone.

One of my favourite and most impactful classes at Middlebury. It gave me an absolute creative freedom that helped me widen my perspective on what a film can look like and what it can be about. Great readings and screenings! Feedback from the professor was on point and fair, with valuable insights on how to improve. It is a lot of fil …Read more

I think professor Miranda Hardy is very smart and has a lot of good information. I really liked the first half of the class where he taught more about film making and story telling strategies but as the class progressed it got more and more political and just focused on social issues. I thought some of the screenings were really weird too.