The Paris International Festival of Fantastic and Science-Fiction Film (french: Festival international de Paris du film fantastique et de science-fiction) was a
film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...
hosted in France between 1972 and 1989. The event was affiliated with film periodical ''
L'Écran fantastique
''L'Écran fantastique'' is a French magazine created in 1969 by Alain Schlockoff, dedicated to fantastic and science-fiction cinema.
History
After falling out with the publisher of ''Horizons du fantastique'' (1967–1976), a film and literatur ...
'', and chaired by its Chief Editor Alain Schlockoff.
The festival is remembered for its raucous atmosphere, which left a durable impression on a number of attending filmmakers. It was one of the founding members of the
European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...
in 1987.
History
Early years
The first edition of the festival, which took place at
Nanterre
Nanterre (, ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807.
The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering t ...
's Théâtre des Amandiers, did not feature a competition because the host city was governed by the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...
, and pitting international artists against each other was viewed as incompatible with socialist values. Therefore, the second edition of the festival, which by then had moved to the
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
in Paris, was the first competitive event. The festival's main award was the Golden Licorn, awarded to the best film.
The festival received early support from British studio
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve clas ...
, an association it maintained through the years. The inaugural edition's guest of honor was Hammer star
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...
, and it featured a retrospective of the company's films. Other Hammer mainstays like
Terence Fisher
Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films.
He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explicit horror in his films, ...
and
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
made appearances in the event's formative years.
Grand Rex era
For its sixth edition the festival moved to the
Grand Rex
Le Grand Rex is a Parisian cinema and concert venue.
Location and access
It is located at , boulevard Poissonnière in the 2nd arrondissement, on the grands boulevards.
Its facades and roofs, as well as its hall and its decor have been lis ...
, one of Paris' best known
art déco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
buildings. It remained there until its penultimate edition, and the venue has become associated with the event's golden years.
Italian director Dario Argento has likened the festival's atmosphere to "a rock concert", and mentioned
Suspiria
''Suspiria'' () is a 1977 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Dario Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daria Nicolodi, partially based on Thomas De Quincey's 1845 essay ''Suspiria de Profundis''. The film stars Jessica Harper as ...
's Paris premiere, where he was borne aloft in trumph by fans, as one of the moments that helped him realize his newfound stature in the film industry. Fellow Italian
Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including comedies and Spaghetti Westerns, he garn ...
is said to have embraced his late conversion to the horror genre based on the raucous reception his film '' The Beyond'' received in Paris. About the festival's crowds,
Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...
declared: "Now everytime I do something n a film I think of the Rex's audience and what will make them scream."
Final years
While the festival's populist approach at first made for compelling headlines, fan antics eventually hurt its reputation, and security staff became its number one expense. In later years, some cinephiles have lamented the event's takeover by unsophisticated crowds, drawn more by the irreverent atmosphere than by the films.
Conversely, as fantastique gained mainstream acceptance during the 1980s, larger distributors yearned for the cachet of the rival Avoriaz Festival, which attracted international stars to its upscale alpine location, and typically recognized only the most prestigious productions in the genre.
According to Schlockoff, the festival's demise was sealed when he accepted an offer by the
Palais des sports de Paris
Palais () may refer to:
* Dance hall, popularly a ''palais de danse'', in the 1950s and 1960s in the UK
* ''Palais'', French for palace
**Grand Palais, the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées
**Petit Palais, an art museum in Paris
* Palais River in t ...
to co-organize the event and procure sponsors for the 1990 edition, only to see their presenting corporate partner withdraw due to concerns about the imminent
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
. The same circumstances led to the cancellation of another French genre film gathering, the 1990
Festival du film policier de Cognac The Festival du Film policier de Cognac ( en, Cognac Crime Film Festival) was an annual film festival that took place in Cognac, France from 1982 to 2007 (with no festival being held in 1991).
List of winning films
Footnotes
#Two editions were held in the calendar year 1979 as the festival moved from March to November.
#No event was held in the calendar year 1985 as the festival reverted to its previous March slot.