Genre cinema has always been approached by great directors as an opportunity to prove their creative genius: Méliès, Cocteau, Franju, Kubrick, Raimi, Jackson, Cameron, De Palma, Polanski, Tarantino, to name just a few of the most famous ones. Popular, unifying and evocative, uninhibited or demanding, suggestive or forward-looking, jubilant, avant-garde, exhilarating, immersive and protesting … Fantastic cinema deeply involves its spectator and tries to make him travel to unforgettable and imaginary wonderlands.

Today, however, organizers of PIFFF feel there is a strange paradox. While the global box office is dominated by fantastic productions, and major international festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Locarno and Venice, are increasingly highlighting genre films, specialized events, like Fantasia in Montreal, Sitges festival in Spain, the BIFFF in Belgium, the NIFFF in Switzerland, the PIFAN in Korea, the FrightFest in London, haven’t found a real, artistic and unifying momentum in France.

The Paris Ciné Fantastique association, in partnership with Mad Movies magazine, has created an ambitious festival, able to meet the expectations of the public, the filmmakers and the press: the Paris International Fantastic Film Festival. The artistic direction is led by Fausto Fasulo, chief editor for Mad Movies, and Cyril Despontin who earlier created the Lyon based festival named Hallucination Collectives, is the executive manager.