Honestly, I learned a lot from this class, and she is indeed knowledgeable but has the worst attitude. She has favorites and is unfortunately not afraid to diminish people. At the end of the quarter, in a career-guided Zoom meeting, one student asked how to negotiate better terms as an early career professional, and Mali's response was to cut her off by saying, "you have to get an offer first". Mali continued with her own story, that she was an exception as a PhD student, basically turning the conversation into boosting her ego. It blew my mind, beyond rude.

Many professors in the film program bring in big names and professionals from studios and the industry. Mali was the only one to FORBID us to speak with or reach out to them... in an industry where networking is vital... She believes in hierarchy and that she is on top. I noticed that the older bad reviews of her have been removed. You will learn in this class because she terrifies you if you don't have an answer. To give you a sense of context, I met a student from this class two quarters later (it was a big class, ca 100 people). We discussed film classes, and Mali's class came up. We locked eyes and gave each other a nod and then at the same time went, "what is her deal?!" (note, I did not know this student prior to this conversation). More students joined in, and it turned into a group of 15 people that needed to vent. It's a powerful class, but to walk around with a lump in your stomach during a whole quarter because you have her class the next day is not acceptable in any way. I received a good grade, I just don't need to be tracked down.

Mali is amazing!! She is not only super knowledgeable and cool but also brings in speakers that are top tier from every category across the industry that each have something new and interesting to teach us.