Waz up?! Darth Bond here at EuroAICN HQ, the old man Edgard left yesterday for a long weekend vacation (the lucky bastard) and I'm real busy with our EuroAICN#3 column (which, btw, is gonna be a SCREAM, so don't miss it next Monday). Anyway, there I was, gathering news from across the continent, when suddenly I got this news flash about the 19th Paris International Science-Fiction and Fantasy Films Festival and thought you guys would like to know about this, enjoy:
I wanted to share with you very good news!
After a 11 years "iatus", the Paris International Science-Fiction & Fantasy Film Festival (1972-1989) is reborn !
The event will take place next October (2-8 October 2000) at Paris Omnisports Bercy Palace with a new configuration of 6000 seats, that will make it Europe's biggest movie theatre. Also with the biggest screen in the world !
Of course, there will be other news, and you'll learn more of it. Specially the International Competition, the "World Premieres", and the guests (actors, directors and other from the international movie industry). For now, I just wanted to confirm to you that the festival is born again, and in a great scale. As in the past, there will be guests, a jury, and some "world premieres". All the films will be new and unreleased in France, with also a retrospective part. We will show this year around 20 new pictures in the International Competition.
So, we will be in contact soon. And I hope that, in a way or another, we'll be able to collaborate on this (very) big event.
All the best,
Alain Schlockoff
Okay guys, the following is just some general information about the festival, it's history, who's been praised past editions, etc..
SCIENCE-FICTION, FANTASY AND HORROR MOVIES ON A LARGE SCALE
The Paris International Science-Fiction and Fantasy Film Festival was conceived and first started in 1972. The Festival virtually proved the existence of a large public in France for fantasy and science-fiction. The Festival is placed under the patronage of the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the City of Paris and the French National Center of Cinematography. It took place every year for 11 days in the largest theatre in Paris, The Rex, which has a seating capacity of over 2.800 seats. Each year, over 25 full-length features, as well as a dozen short features, were screened. Lasts editions, there were 50.000 admission tickets sold, and hundred of hopeful Festival goers were turned away at the door.
3 JURY VOTED AWARDS
At each Festival, there are three juries which vote separate awards to the outstanding films of the Festival. An International Jury of Professionals votes for the main awards, including the presentation of the coveted Golden Unicorn Award. The Unicorn is cast each year from a new and beautiful design by one of France's leading artists. The Critic Jury votes the Critic Award, and the final, and perhaps most important award, the Grand Prix Award, is voted by a Poll of the Public. Since the attendees at the Festival are representative of all walks of life, this award is also an excellent test of a film's popularity once it is in general release. Among the films that have been recognized from the very beginning are:
Asylum (Roy Ward Baker)
Bad Taste (Peter Jackson)
Blood Simple (Joel & Ethan Coen)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (Robert Fuest)
Burnt Offerings (Dan Curtis) ("world premiere")
Death Race 2000 (Paul Bartel)
Dracula (John Badham)
Evil Dead (Sam Raimi)
Food of the Gods (Bert I. Gordon)
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (Terence Fisher)("world premiere")
The Hand (Oliver Stone)
Harlequin (Simon Wincer)
House (Steve Miner)
Nightmare on Elm Street 3 (Renny Harlin)
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (Gordon Hessler)
Gremlins (Joe Dante)
The Hephaestus Plague (Jeannot Szwarc)
Halloween (John Carpenter)
Mad Max (George Miller)
Nomads (John McTiernan)
Of Unknown Origin (George Pan Cosmatos)
Pic Nic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir)
Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (George Pal)
Silent Running (Douglas Trumbull)
Sisters (Brian De Palma)
Suspiria (Dario Argento)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper)
Tales from the Crypt (Freddie Francis)
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (Val Guest)
Zombie (George A. Romero) ("world premiere")
Zombi 2 (Lucio Fulci) ("world premiere")
The Wickerman (Robin Hardy)
Wizards (Ralph Bakshi)
Zu, Warriors from the Magic Mountain (Tsui Hark) (all shown at the Festival before their first release in France)
And many, many more from directors such as Michael Anderson, Pupi Avati, Saul Bass, Mario Bava, Lamberto Bava, James Cameron, Bob Clark, Larry Cohen, Wes Craven, William Castle, Roland Emmerich, Bryan Forbes, Juraj Hertz, Richard Marquand, John Mc Tiernan, Peter Sasdy, Jim Sharman, Hark Tsui, Peter Watkins, Stan Winston, Karel Zeman, among others.
MAJOR EVENT
The Paris Festival was the largest of its kind in the world. It played an important role in introducing to the European film market features which would otherwise never find distributor. Because it is largely a public event and is not restricted to a coterie of film buffs or critics, it draws audience from all over France and many neighbouring countries as well (mainly Belgium and Germany). Independent films that do well at the Festival are likely to attract the attention of the many professionals who also attend the Festival.
FILM MARKET
Furthering its role as a showcase for films, the Festival also held a Film Market. Films were shown in a private screening (for producers, distributors, etc) the day after their public showing. Since 1975, over 120 have been purchased by French distributors, American television and Japanese promoters. The Film Market provided an opportunity to not only see the films, but also to have a sampling of its effect on large audience. Some of the films that have been purchased through the Film Market are : Dan Curtis's Dracula, Evil Dead, Silent Running, Bug, Zero Population Growth, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Burnt Offerings, Dawn of the Dead, The Legacy, Dominique, Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Frankenstein : the True Story, Death Race 2000, From Beyond the Grave, Zombie, Zombi 2, Suspiria, Etc.
GUESTS OF HONOR
In past years, many of the stars, directors and producers who have made the genre what it is today have been honoured guests of the Festival. Among them have been : Dario Argento, Roy Ward Baker, Lamberto Bava, Peter Cushing, Robert Englund, Terence Fisher, Lucio Fulci, Mick Garris, John Hough, Peter Jackson, Christopher Lee, Jose Mojica Marins, Caroline Munro, Paul Naschy, Robert Powell, Sam Raimi, Peter Sasdy, Jeannot Szwarc, Milton Subotsky, Vincent Price, etc...
