Looking Back on the History of FIPRESCI

Looking Back on the History of FIPRESCI

Josef Nagel, who himself served on juries in Brussels and Coimbra for FIPRESCI last year, has written a historical overview for the German online magazine Filmdienst, looking back on the history of FIPRESCI and assessing its current position.

Between Tradition and Reorientation

FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics, celebrates its 100th anniversary

by Josef Nagel

One hundred years ago, film critics came together for the first time to form an association. In 1930, this became the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique, or FIPRESCI for short. The basis, function and self-image of professional film criticism have changed considerably since then. A historical excursion that provides an opportunity to take stock of the current situation.

When a film critics association was founded for the first time in 1925, the medium to which film journalists devoted themselves was already over a quarter of a century old. The fact that film criticism as a new journalistic form and, ultimately, a film critics association emerged in the wake of early cinema reflects the changes that the medium underwent in the early 20th century. In its early years, films and cinema were seen less as a new art form than as a fairground attraction. However, the film art movement, which began in France in 1908 and was named after the production company of the same name, Film d’Art, favoured the establishment of permanent venues and the development of new audiences in the period before the First World War. The increasing convergence of theatre and film in terms of content and personnel – in acting, directing and dramaturgy – meant that the new medium now also appealed to middle-class, artistically interested viewers. The changing production led to a lasting cinematographic positioning in all important film nations – the USA, France, Italy, Germany and Scandinavia. Film became the ’seventh art’.

The promotional accompaniment of high-quality films soon attracted the attention of expert journalists and editors in trade journals and metropolitan daily newspapers. Occasionally, representatives of the press joined forces for professional reasons in order to give (artistically valuable) film a place alongside the established art forms – literature, theatre, music and painting. Parallel to the artistic aspirations of the new medium, so-called reform movements of ecclesiastical and bourgeois-intellectual provenance also gave rise to an independent evaluation of longer productions with prominent casts. From 1912 onwards, this tendency can be traced in Western Europe through contemporary film reviews.

The prehistory of FIPRESCI

Jules Flament and Edouard de Tallenay, two committed journalists from the Belgian newspaper La Nation belge, published a groundbreaking appeal in 1924: “The public, and we’re talking about artists, writers, journalists, painters, institutional figures and the families of these intellectuals – in Brussels, that’s several thousand people – this public, this clientele, doesn’t go to the cinema. Quite simply because they are not interested in most of the films that are shown there.” Inspired by French cineastes, the duo founded the film club Les Amis du Cinéma with noble educational intentions. They wanted to talk to viewers and ”explain cinema to them”. On 1 May 1925, the Association Professionelle de la Presse Cinématographique Belge (APPCB) was founded in Brussels – from which FIPRESCI would later grow.

In autumn 1926, the idea of an international association took shape at a cinema congress in Paris. The following communiqué was published: “A strong representation of film critics from the daily press and the specialised press took part in the cinema congress in the French capital. According to M. J. L. Croze’s report, the founded commission demanded the constitution of an international film press association. This organisation should be an international information centre and defend professional interests.”

Following various initiatives, on 6 June 1930, during the international cinema congress in Brussels, a number of French, Belgian and probably also Italian critics founded an organisation based on individual membership. At their second general assembly, which took place in Rome in 1931, the Italian hosts proposed that the organisation be officially named FIPRESCI, Féderation Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique. This date was communicated in the newly revised statutes in April 2025. As the national representatives of film criticism often only met sporadically in the early days, no FIPRESCI archive exists. With the proclamation of the 100th anniversary, the majority of the federation’s members agreed on 1925 as the “founding year”.

In the late 1930s, the umbrella organisation took a cautious approach in the face of the political storms in Europe. At the start of the war in 1939, the federation comprised seven national sections: Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Czechoslovakia. There were also nine other countries with individual members: Vatican City, Spain, USA, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.

A new beginning

After the Second World War, France and Belgium brought FIPRESCI back to normality. The first film festival in Cannes took place from 20 September to 5 October 1946. The International Federation of Film Critics honoured the films Brief Encounter by David Lean and Farrébique by Georges Rouquier for their artistic achievements. New officials were also elected during the festival, including the (British) president Dilys Powell.

It was not until the 1946 Cannes Film Festival that the glue that united the various national activities existed. “Renowned critics with well-known names only joined FIPRESCI much later, in the 1960s and 1970s. These included James Hoberman, Derek Malcom, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Andrew Sarris, Lino Micciché, Derek Malcolm, David Robinson, Michel Ciment, Marcel Martin, Jean Roy, Peter Buchka, Wolfram Schütte and many others,“ recalls Klaus Eder, FIPRESCI General Secretary from 1987 to 2024. ”The current ‘constitution’ of FIPRESCI was established in the 1960s by Italian colleague Lino Micciché. The key point was that Eastern Europe was given the same rights and duties as Western Europe. For example, four Vice-Presidents were introduced – two from the East, two from the West. This structure has remained valid, with variations, right up to the present day.”

FIPRESCI in the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic

After the Second World War, the divided Germany was represented in FIPRESCI by two sections: in the East by the film critics section of the GDR Union of Journalists (Verband der Journalisten der DDR – VdJ) with Horst Knietzsch, the editor of Neues Deutschland, and in the West by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Filmjournalisten e.V., founded in Düsseldorf in 1954.

“FIPRESCI was very appealing to our colleagues in Eastern Europe. It was easy to obtain the necessary ticket and a travel visa. This applied to all critics, as there were no political restrictions. Western critics were also able to travel to festivals in Leipzig or Moscow. They were interested in good dialogue. Contact with East German colleagues was organised on a festival basis via the GDR Ministry of Culture,” sums up Klaus Eder.

However, former DEFA chairman Helmut Morsbach remembers things differently: “I can’t imagine that there was any official or perhaps unofficial long-term co-operation between East and West in the FIPRESCI sections. From the outside, I perceived the FIPRESCI representatives from the GDR as largely insignificant, state-directed and with a political mandate.”

Currently, two German associations are listed as FIPRESCI members: the German Film Critics Association (Verband der deutschen Filmkritik – VdFk) as the continuation of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Filmjournalisten founded in 1954 and the Berufsvereinigung deutscher Medienjournalisten (BVMJ), which exists since 2016. “The split was due to misunderstandings, for personal reasons. The relationship between the two associations was miserable. In the meantime, the relationship has improved again,” explains Klaus Eder.

Today, FIPRESCI is a global organisation with over 50 national associations and numerous individual members in 42 countries. While in 1989 juries were still involved in 19 film festivals, the organisation is currently active at more than 80 festivals. FIPRESCI’s self-image includes the defence of the rights and interests of professional film critics and the promotion of young talent. The task of publicising innovative films of great humanitarian commitment to professionals and audiences is still considered equally important.

The significance of FIPRESCI Awards

It cannot be denied that over the years, the importance of FIPRESCI Prizes has diminished compared to other awards at festival juries. A trend that has become impossible to ignore in view of the flood of prizes at many film festivals. Many daily newspapers, trade journals and online publications do not mention the FIPRESCI jury members or the award winners they have honoured. The festivals themselves often only publicise FIPRESCI Awards at the end of their information.

One must therefore also ask whether FIPRESCI Prizes now often only serve as justification for funders and sponsors. Are the criteria for FIPRESCI Awards – supporting the art of film and encouraging new developments in the art of film – still up to date? ”More than ever,” Klaus Eder is firmly convinced, ”at larger festivals, the winners appreciate the award; at smaller events, it is more important for the audience.”

The basis, function and self-image of independent film criticism – and thus also of FIPRESCI – have been changing for decades. The media landscape demands new journalistic formats and inevitably reacts to changing reader expectations. Added to this is the enormous reaction speed of news transmission, the omnipresence of reviews and data on the Internet and the use of A.I. ”Today, FIPRESCI is still an association with an ’old’ understanding. Just as much has changed in the overall picture of film criticism, the effects on FIPRESCI reflect this,” Klaus Eder concludes.

Everything is changing

In this context, the time and financial constraints of jury members, who can hardly afford an unpaid working week at festivals, even under the heading of further training or socialising, should not be overlooked. Despite the occasional covering of travelling expenses, accommodation and meals by the festivals, the total costs are not affordable, especially for freelance journalists. Hardly anyone is discussing minimum wages; nor do they want to talk about possible dependencies in individual cases.

At the FIPRESCI General Assembly 2024 in Budapest, the amendment of the federation’s statutes was discussed. The most important topics were the recruitment of active members for new positions in the digital transformation process, changed working structures and communication channels, more active national sections, the remuneration of prominent management functions, pressure for change due to financial streamlining in the film industry, better visibility of the federation, the search for new partners and collaborations, the preservation or relaxation of the independence criterion for members, income deficits due to the influencer boom and the globalisation of the film industry.

The current FIPRESCI management team is made up of President Ahmed Shawky (Egypt) and the three Vice Presidents Elena Rubashevska (Ukraine), Paola Casella (Italy) and Alin Taşçıyan (Turkey). Following the announcement of the establishment of a Saudi Arabian film archive, FIPRESCI President Ahmed Shawky signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Saudi Arabian Film Commission in the areas of festivals and events, archiving, restoration, scientific research and education. This network expansion was preceded by two film criticism conferences in the capital Riyadh in 2023 and 2024.

Film criticism & love

Klaus Eder, FIPRESCI’s long-standing General Secretary, who headed the federation from 1987 to the end of 2024, was awarded the Honorary Award of German Film Criticism in 2025 for his lifetime achievements, particularly in the service of FIPRESCI. In an interview with Peruvian journalist Rodrigo Portales, Eder once described the ambitions of a jury member as ”unorthodox and without ideological pretension”. He has since revised his view that a critic must see all films. “I believe that a film critic must establish a personal relationship with every film. That’s why a critic can’t write equally well about everything. It’s like in love: either you fall in love with the other person or you’re not interested. So if a critic realises that he already ‘knows’ a film or doesn’t discover anything new, beautiful or valuable in it, then it’s best for him to get up and leave. If he were to write about it, it wouldn’t be a good review.”

Josef Nagel
© FIPRESCI 2025

(English translation of an article originally published in German in the online magazine Filmdienst on 11 July 2025. Link to the original publication: https://www.filmdienst.de/artikel/74074/100-jahre-fipresci).