Do reviews influence the career of a film? It may be argued that the commercial success of a Hollywood (or Bollywood) bestseller remains relatively untouched by damaging reviews. But this is not always the case. Yet, a review is only one among the various factors that play a key role in spreading the word about a film. Advertisements, publicity, posters etc are also ways are also ways by which a reviewer receives information, apart, of course, from what passes by word-of-mouth. 

Reviews indisputably help in taking art and low-budget films to a wider public. Critical acclaim can also make it easier for some filmmakers to obtain funding for their future projects. Do critics, therefore, have - at least partially - the power to not only judge the aesthetics of a film but also to decide its commercial career? And should they have this power? Do they use it in a friendly and reliable way, with the aim of fostering cinema as an art? Or can they, and do they, destroy films and maybe even the careers of their makers, screenwriters, actors, directors? What is the nature of their responsibility regarding the films they are writing about? Doesn’t much writing on cinema concentrate on salacious gossip and flimsy star-struck stories rather than on a serious and thoughtful critique? What is the role of critics vis a vis the development of a country's cinema? Do they make careers or break them?

The panel attempts to discover and explore ways of constructive cooperation between the two professional fields represented by a reviewer and a filmmaker.

Bio-notes

Tony Rayns
Tony Rayns is a London-based film-maker, critic and festival curator with a special interest in East Asian cinemas. He is a contributing editor of Sight and Sound magazine, and programmes for the London and Vancouver film festivals. He was awarded the 2004 Kawakita Prize for services to Japanese cinema.

Khaled Mohammad
Well-known journalist, editor and critic-turned-filmmaker/scriptwriter, Khaled Mohammad has scripted six films and directed four films. Son of well known actress Zubeida on whom one of his scripts is based. Zubeida, directed by Shyam Benegal, was nominated for the Screen Weekly Awards in 2002. he was formerly Lead Editor for Filmfare. Currently, he works as a critic with Hindustan Times in Mumbai.

Liz Shackleton
Liz Shackleton, a critic of long standing, covers Hong Kong film market for Screen International, a London-based trade paper.

Mohamed Gallaoui
Mohamed Gallaoui is the President of the Film Critics Association of Morocco and Professor of Political Science at the Hasan II University in Casablanca. He has authored several works on cinema, serves on the editorial board of the review Cinema, and was formerly on the editorial committee of the communications review, Vision. He is currently a member of the commission that supports production funding at the Moroccan Cinema Centre. Mr Gallaoui has been on the jury of national and international film festivals.