Lady Kennedy is a barrister, broadcaster and Labour member of the House of Lords. She is also a long-time reader of Philip French.

When I came to London, I was 18 and knew absolutely nothing about film – I had regularly gone to schlock movies. I was studying law with a whole load of people who had gone to Oxbridge, many of whom were very well versed in film. I was an ingenue surrounded by alpha males who knew everything about Godard, and every French film-maker.

I stumbled on Philip's reviews in the early 70s and he became my secret crib sheet. He introduced me to all sorts of film-makers, from Bergman to Truffaut. It was as if I had somebody who liked the things that I like and so I found, in his writing, a friend who I then came to trust over the years. I became reliant on him as a touchstone and he educated me about film, so that's why I hold him so close to my heart.

Philip has that remarkable facility which really good writers who are passionate about their subject have, in that they can communicate in clear and wonderful language, but also in a way which makes it personal to the reader. He's pitch-perfect – [his reviews are] accessible to the layperson but also to those who are really immersed in the world of film. That is a gift, because often people can't make that journey very well, but he does it brilliantly.