''L'Écran fantastique'' is a French magazine created in 1969 by Alain Schlockoff, dedicated to
fantastic
The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces.
Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, charac ...
and
science-fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...
cinema.
History
After falling out with the publisher of ''Horizons du fantastique'' (1967–1976), a film and literature publication, Schlockoff started the film-focused ''L'Écran fantastique'' on his own with scarce ressources.
The magazine began its publication history with a limited trial run in 1969 and 1970, which lacked the print design and formal publishing of ''Horizons du fantastique''.
It was then relaunched as a professionally printed publication in December 1970, but still struggled to find a reliable publisher. Though billed as a quarterly, it remained subject to schedule disruptions and some projected issues of ''L'Écran fantastique'' were reformatted into installments of ''Cinéma d'aujourd'hui'', a collection of
monograph
A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject.
In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
s published by movie literature specialists FilmÉditions.
''L'Écran fantastique'' finally became a regular publication in June 1977 through a deal with the
Librairie des Champs-Élysées. Although another publisher change would occur in 1979, the magazine was now established and its frequency increased, first to bimonthly in 1980, then to monthly in 1982.
The title celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special commemorative issue in May 2019.
In 2020, it was rebooted again and split into two brands: ''L'Écran fantastique reboot'', which is dedicated to current releases, and ''L'Écran fantastique vintage'', which offers retrospective issues on specific themes, in the style of the publication's early years.
English version
An English-language version of the magazine, simply called ''Fantastique'', debuted in the United Kingdom in 2009,
with eyes on a possible US launch.
The market, however, proved unfavorable and publication of the English version stopped after just three issues.
Film festival
The magazine's publisher also promoted the
Paris International Festival of Fantastic and Science-Fiction Film, which ran for eighteen editions between 1972 and 1989.
See also
*''
Mad Movies
''Mad Movies'' is a French magazine created in 1972 by Jean-Pierre Putters, dedicated to fantastic and science-fiction film, science-fiction cinema.
History
''Mad Movies'' started as a fanzine and put out 21 issues between 1972 and 1981.
In 197 ...
''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:L'Ecran fantastique
Film magazines published in France
Horror fandom
Magazines established in 1969
1969 establishments in France
Magazines published in France