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Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival Guide

By The Travel FieldbookPublished on Updated on 5 min read
Rows of chairs face a large outdoor cinema screen in Place des Rohan.
An outdoor screening setup for Strasbourg’s European Fantastic Film Festival in Place des Rohan, 2018. (Forked BEARD · CC BY 2.0 · Edited)

The Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival brings fantasy, science fiction, horror and thrillers to the city each autumn. Alongside the films, the Fantastic Village offers a place to pause between screenings, while games and virtual-reality cinema give you ways to take part beyond watching a screen. It suits a visit built around films, with room for public gatherings and interactive events between them.

Dates and the festival programme

Annual window
Late September and early October
Usual duration
10 days
Cinema screenings
Paid admission
Fantastic Village entry
Free

The full programme usually appears in early September. The official festival website, FEFFS, publishes the programme, film catalogue and screening timetable. The catalogue identifies films, while the timetable matches them to sessions and cinemas, so choosing a title also means choosing where and when to watch it.

Choose your stay within the festival window, then build your film choices around the released programme. Leave some space between commitments so you can enjoy a village visit or an interactive event rather than making every day a run of screenings.

Screenings and late-night films

OccasionRecurring day patternPart of the day
Opening ceremonyOpening FridayEvening
Midnight MoviesMultiple festival days; varies by filmLate evening or around midnight

Feature and short-film competitions sit alongside retrospectives and special or out-of-competition screenings. The recurring genres range from fantasy and science fiction to horror and thrillers, so you can mix new discoveries with a retrospective rather than choosing only by genre.

On each film page, the “Version” field separates the spoken language from the subtitle language. An English-language film with French subtitles suits an English speaker, but a film in another language with only French subtitles may not. Choose the actual session and cinema from the screening timetable.

The annual open-air screening at Place du Château takes cinema into a public square. Its film changes with each edition, making it a distinct festival occasion alongside the indoor programme.

Star Saint-Exupéry is a recurring festival screening venue. It lets you combine a film with time in the old town, but choose its particular session rather than assuming every festival film plays there.

Name
Star Saint-Exupéry
Location
18 Rue du 22 Novembre, Strasbourg Maps
Site
cinema-star.com
Essential fact
Star Saint-Exupéry is a cinema in central Strasbourg.

UGC Ciné Cité Strasbourg Étoile also hosts festival screenings in its multiplex. Pair your chosen film with its named cinema before planning the next session: a change to this venue can mean leaving the area where you watched your previous film.

Name
UGC Ciné Cité Strasbourg Étoile
Location
25 Av. du Rhin, Strasbourg Maps
Site
ugc.fr
Hours
10:20–22:45
Essential fact
UGC Ciné Cité Strasbourg Étoile is a cinema near Place de l’Étoile in Strasbourg.

The Fantastic Village and interactive events

The Fantastic Village at Place Saint-Thomas gives you somewhere to spend time between films. Daytime workshops and stalls showcasing local creations make it more than a refreshment stop, while evening DJ sets shift the focus towards gathering after screenings. A festival merchandise shop and Sunday vegan brunch also feature in its programme.

Usual daily hours
10:00–22:00 during the festival
Friday and Saturday closing
00:00

The refreshment bar serves drinks and snacks. Depending on the programme, you may also find tarte flambée, a thin Alsatian flatbread usually topped with cream, onions and bacon. Wear comfortable everyday clothes and bring a layer for time outdoors. The village is a useful change of pace from sitting in a cinema.

Connexions brings independent video games, including the Indie Game Contest, together with digital-creator installations. Its VR Film Corner presents 360° virtual-reality cinema, letting you explore a different way of watching films. The mix of activities varies by edition, so choose these alongside, rather than as substitutes for, your cinema sessions.

Kino Games is a separate cinema-based interactive evening at Le Cosmos. Treat it as a specific event to attend, not a drop-in activity at the village: its reservation arrangement matters when you decide how to spend that evening.

Festival Pass, Kino Games tickets and rooms

The Festival Pass is a personal, named discount entitlement for cinema attendance. It makes sense to distinguish the pass itself from the admission you buy for each film.

Reserve Kino Games if you want to attend its interactive evening. Budget roughly €7–€9: the lower rate applies to the usual reduced-price categories and UGC cardholders, while the upper end is the full rate.

The festival increases demand for Strasbourg accommodation. Arrange your room early once you have chosen your stay, favouring a location that makes your return after films straightforward.

Getting between venues and home

Trams, Monday–Saturday
04:30–00:30
Trams, Sundays and public holidays
05:30–00:30, except 1 May
Tram frequency, 06:30–20:00
Every 5–10 minutes
Tram frequency outside those hours
Around every 15 minutes
Standard buses
Daily 05:30–23:30; varies by route
Bus frequency
Varies by route

CTS operates Strasbourg’s tram and bus network and publishes its ordinary network information. For a late film, plan the return from its finishing time, not its starting time. Choose a walkable route to your accommodation or budget for a taxi if the film ends after public transport stops.

When spacing sessions, use each film’s cinema address. Leave room for the journey, a break and cinema queues rather than choosing consecutive screenings in different venues simply because their times appear to fit.

For step-free access, the festival identifies screening venues and directs visitors to each cinema’s accessibility information. Use the venue details from Star cinemas or UGC when choosing your screening: the cinema, not just the film title, determines whether the visit suits your access needs.

If you arrive by car, parking in Strasbourg helps you choose where to leave it and understand costs and driving-access rules before heading to a screening.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: services, opening hours, and fares and charges.

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