CONFERENCE “HOW, WHY AND WHO DO WE WRITE FOR ANYMORE?”

The conference “How, why and who do we write for anymore?” is organized by Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest in partnership with Control N and is part of the series of events organized under the umbrella of Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest – In Debate.

This event brings together famous film critics, distributors and international press attachés to debate about the role of the film as a cultural product and the mechanisms behind film distribution.

The conference “How, why and who do we write for anymore?” takes place in the frame of Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest on Sunday October 25, 2015  in Elvira Popesco Cinema. For a whole day, by individual interventions and debates, several themes will be covered: the role of the film critic today and they way this job has been transformed in the Internet era, when writing has been democratized and anyone can publish; the way to communicate and sell an independent film in order to make it more attractive in the eyes of the audience, without creating false expectations; the way to build an efficient promotional strategy; the chances for an independent film to make it without festival selections; the trends in nowadays cinema. 

The guests of the conference, who will debate on the proposed topics and present their opinions, include Pascal Mérigeau and Magali Montet. Pascal Mérigeau is a well known French journalist and film critic. He has constantly published in Les Nouvelles littéraires, Le Point, Le Monde and Nouvel Observateur and is involved in the film seleciton of the Cannes Film Festival. Magali Montet is one of the most famous cinema PR managers, a French press attache, whose career includes working for films like Le gamin au velo (r. Jean-Pierre și Luc Dardenne), L’Esprit de 45 (r. Ken Loach), Into the Abyss (r. Werner Herzog), Life of Riley (r. Alain Resnais) or Comoara (r. Corneliu Porumboiu). The films Magali Monet has represented throughout the years as a press attache were presented in important festivals like Cannes, Berlin or Venice. 

The conference is also dedicated to film and culture journalists, young critics and cinema bloggers, students in film universities, film professionals, as well as cinephiles and amateurs who want to take part in a wide discussion about the direction of nowadays cinema. There is no entrance fee.

The conference “How, why and who do we write for anymore?” is divided in two parts:

1. 11.00 – 13.00 – Who needs critics in the www era? How has writing about cinema transformed in this context?

Through individual 15 minutes interventions, followed by Q&A sessions and a debate, we will try to answer the following questions: Who needs critics in the www era? How has writing about cinema transformed in this context? What are the trends in film critique around the world and what are the specificities of each film industry in part when it comes to film reviews? Where is the cinema heading to? How, why and who do we write for anymore?

2. 13.30 – 15.30 – Debate: How do we sell the films? Who do we sell them to?

The second part of the conference will cover certain positions in the cinema industry, covering the role of the press attache: what is their role in the festivals and film distribution; how do you convince journalists to write about your film, how do you manage the press meetings and the situations in which the film is not properly received? What is the role of the film distributor, what is important in the promotional strategy of a film? What is an efficient campaign and what is a failed campaign, with examples and tested methods.

Last but not least, the conference will cover the role of the film critic in the promotional campaign of a film; welcoming review vs. elaborate review; how to write about a film you hate; how to write about your friend filmmakers; the dynamic of a critic – press attache relationships; looking at a review from the point of view of a target audience.

The conference “How, why and who do we write for anymore?” is a co-financed by the National Center of Cinematography, with the support of BRD – Groupe Société Generale.