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| French Syndicate of Cinema Critics | |
|---|---|
| Name | Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma |
| Native name | Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| Genre | Film criticism |
| Language | French |
French Syndicate of Cinema Critics is a professional association of film critics established in Paris in 1946 that groups journalists, reviewers and scholars around film criticism and review. It has been active in awarding annual prizes and shaping discourse around cinema in France and internationally, interacting with journals, festivals and institutions across Europe and beyond. The Syndicate has influenced critical reception of films from auteurs to mainstream directors through editorial collaboration, festival juries and prize announcements.
The Syndicate traces its roots to post-World War II cultural reconstruction in Paris, when film criticism networks connected figures involved with Cahiers du Cinéma, Positif (magazine), Les Cahiers du Cinéma critics and contributors from publications like Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération (French newspaper), L'Express, Télérama, France Culture, Radio France, Arte (TV network), and Cinémathèque Française. Early members debated topics that touched on filmmakers such as Jean Renoir, René Clair, Jean Cocteau, Max Ophüls, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Robert Bresson, Luis Buñuel, and later François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Éric Rohmer, contributing to polarizations seen with movements like the French New Wave and publications like Cahiers du Cinéma and Positif (magazine). The Syndicate engaged with film festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and later with international bodies like European Film Academy and FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics), overseeing awards recognizing features, debuts, and rediscovered classics.
The Syndicate is structured as a collective of accredited members drawn from outlets including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération (French newspaper), L'Obs, Les Inrockuptibles, Télérama, Cahiers du Cinéma, Positif (magazine), Première (magazine), Allociné, Mediapart, Slate (magazine), and broadcasters like France Télévisions, TF1, Canal+, Arte (TV network) and Radio France. Membership criteria reference press accreditation systems linked to institutions such as Cannes Film Festival and professional bodies like Syndicat National des Journalistes and the Ordre des Journalistes (France). Governance typically includes a president, board and committees, mirroring structures seen in organizations like European Film Academy, FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics), and cultural institutions such as Centre Pompidou and Institut Français. The Syndicate maintains relations with archives like Cinémathèque Française and funding bodies including CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée), regional agencies such as Île-de-France, and European partners like Creative Europe.
The Syndicate annually presents prizes akin to awards given by César Award, BAFTA, Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and counterpart critics' groups such as New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and National Society of Film Critics. Prizes have recognized films by Alain Resnais, Agnès Varda, André Téchiné, Claire Denis, François Ozon, Arnaud Desplechin, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Luc Besson, Jacques Audiard, Michael Haneke, Pedro Almodóvar, Ken Loach, Wong Kar-wai, Hayao Miyazaki, Pedro Costa, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, and Federico Fellini. The Syndicate organizes screenings, roundtables, retrospectives, and publishes lists and critical dossiers paralleling initiatives by Cahiers du Cinéma, Sight & Sound, Film Comment, Cineaste, Positif (magazine), and collaborates with festivals including Cannes Film Festival, Festival de Cannes - Critics' Week, La Semaine de la Critique, Venice Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, San Sebastián International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival. It issues year-end best-of lists and selects films for retrospectives that echo programming from Cinémathèque Française, British Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, and university film programs at Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris 3 and Université Paris Nanterre.
The Syndicate's pronouncements have affected box office trajectories, distribution strategies of companies like Gaumont Film Company, Pathé, UGC (company), StudioCanal, and festival buzz influencing sales agents and exhibitors such as Wild Bunch, FilmNation Entertainment, Memento Films, and MK2. Critics associated with the Syndicate have shaped academic curricula in departments such as Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis and influenced scholarship in journals like Film Quarterly, Journal of Film and Video, Screen (journal), and platforms including Criterion Collection. Its awards and critiques have provoked debates involving directors like Roman Polanski, Lars von Trier, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Milos Forman, and public controversies intersecting with institutions like Ministry of Culture (France) and media outlets such as France Inter.
Notable figures linked to the Syndicate include critics, editors and cultural administrators who have held leadership roles or membership across outlets: André Bazin-era influences channeled through successors associated with Cahiers du Cinéma, critics appearing in Positif (magazine), commentators from Télérama, Le Monde, Libération (French newspaper), writers like Serge Daney, Olivier Assayas, Philippe Garrel (as filmmaker-critic interlocutor), Éric Rohmer (critic turned filmmaker), Jean Douchet, Luc Moullet, Josette Déléan, Marie-Claude Bérot, Yves Montmayeur, Benoît Jacquot (critic and director crossovers), Noël Burch, Michel Ciment, Pascal Mérigeau, Anne Andreu, Catherine Lecoq, Olivier Père, Bertrand Tavernier (director-critic connections), Gérard Lefort, Dominique Maillet, Lea Seydoux (public figure associations in cultural coverage), and contemporary critics active in outlets such as Les Inrockuptibles, Première (magazine), Allociné, and Mediapart.
Category:French film critics