Film critique on tv – is there any such thing? Or are the pictures so overpowering that the critic - with or without choice - has become the long arm of the film promoter? Are the distributors at all willing to create working conditions that allow a substantial analysis of their films? Movie shows are shoved into late night slots that only insomniac film fans will watch. Yet these kinds of television shows have the advantage of adding a touch of glamour to the programming at a cheap minute rate. In addition they create a healthy environment for advertising which can be directed to a large public thanks to the current cinema boom. Why then are there so few programmes dealing with film on German television? Particularly at a time when the discussion about violence on the screen becomes increasingly important with all its clichés and ill founded accusations. Thus a fact based and critical discussion of the film media is long overdue. We put the question to broadcasting companies, film distributors and film critics: How can we create more space for film reviews on television? Do we have to find a new kind of programme so that a popular as well as more sophisticated form of film review can find their way out of the late night ghetto?
Participants:
- Meinolf Zurhorst, Managing Director Feature Films III / ZDF / ARTE - Mainz
- Petra Strobl, VIVA, Managing Director "Film ab!" - Cologne
- Magnus Vortmeyer, Managing Director Press & Marketing Tobis StudioCanal - Berlin
- Helfried Spitra, Head of Culture and Science Television WDR - Cologne
- Wilfried Geldner, Media Critic Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Munich
Presented by: Dr. Josef Schnelle (VDF), Film Critic WDR, Cologne