Page 246 - Alternative Europe Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945

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T H E F A N T A S T I S K F I L M F E S T I V A L : A N O V E R V I E W A N D
I N T E R V I E W W I T H M A G N U S P A U L S S O N

Xavier Mendik

INTRODUCTION

One key member of the European Federation of Fantastic Film Festivals is the Fantastisk Film
Festival in Sweden. Over the last ten years the festival has established a reputation for programming
an eclectic range of offbeat and unusual productions from Europe and Asia, while the dedicated band
of organisers and assistants ensure the event good attendance by both the local audience and oversees
guests. In the following interview, Magnus Paulsson, the founder of the Festival, offers an overview
of the Festivals development, as well as providing an introductory overview of the Fantastisk Film
philosophy.
Fantastic film is usually used as a collective term for film genres like science fiction, fantasy and
horror. But the Fantastisk Film Festival does not set narrow limits for what can be screened. In
short, fantastic cinema is about imagination, about stretching limits - between dream and reality, the

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