Homepage August 2025
FIPRESCI Celebrates its 100th Anniversary at the Venice Film Festival With Awards to Artistic Director Alberto Barbera and Award-Winning Filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang.
Both have significantly contributed to cultivating and refining our understanding and appreciation of cinema’s uniqueness as both an art form and a cultural and sociological vantage point. As critics, they gave us plenty of food for thought, and we are proud to honour both on the occasion of our biggest birthday (so far).
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Josef Nagel has written a historical overview for the German online magazine Filmdienst, looking back on the history of FIPRESCI and assessing its current position. Read the English version on our website.
At this year’s Locarno Film Festival, FIPRESCI Jury is represented by international film critics Britt Sørensen (Norway) – president, Sabrina Schwob (Switzerland), Alonso Aguilar (Costa Rica), Savina Petkova (Bulgaria), Alessandro Amato (Italy).
At the official press aperitif of the 78th Locarno Film Festival, our colleague Giona A. Nazzaro, the festival’s artistic director, was joined by FIPRESCI president Ahmed Shawky to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the federation. Nazzaro highlighted the enduring importance of film criticism as a vital tool for supporting emerging talent and defending freedom of expression—an issue that is increasingly urgent in today’s world.
In Memoriam David Stratton. David Stratton, who was President of the FIPRESCI Jury at Cannes twice and Venice once, died on Thursday, 14 August, at a hospital near his home in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney, Australia. He was eighty-five. Read CJ Johnson’s text about the most influential Australian film critic on the link.
Meet us at the next festivals:
- “Beyond Borders” International Documentary Film Festival, Kastellorizo, Greece, 24-31 August
- Venice International Film Festival, Italy, 27 August-6 September
- Toronto International Film Festival, Canada, September 4-14
- CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival, Hungary, 5-13 September
- Drama International Short Film Festival, Greece, 8-14 September
- DMZ Docs, South Korea, 11-17 September