Positif (magazine)

Positif (magazine)
Title	Positif
Editor	Jacques Fieschi
Frequency	Monthly
Category	Film magazine
Firstdate	1952
Country	France
Based	Paris
Language	French

Positif (magazine) is a French monthly film periodical founded in 1952 in Paris that has chronicled, critiqued, and championed cinema across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Established during the postwar reconstruction of cultural life in France, the journal positioned itself as an alternative voice to contemporary publications associated with figures like François Truffaut and movements connected to the Cahiers du Cinéma circle while engaging with filmmakers ranging from Alfred Hitchcock to Akira Kurosawa and institutions such as the Cannes Film Festival. Over decades it has published criticism, interviews, dossiers, and manifestos linking auteurs, studios, festivals, and national cinemas.

History

Positif began in 1952 amid debates surrounding film authorship involving critics and directors tied to New Wave debates, contemporary criticism in Cahiers du Cinéma, and cultural policy under the Fourth Republic (France). Its early editors sought to defend classic and international filmmaking, publishing on figures like Jean Renoir, Orson Welles, John Ford, and Federico Fellini while mapping film cultures from Soviet Union auteurs such as Sergei Eisenstein to emerging voices in Italian Neorealism like Vittorio De Sica. During the 1960s and 1970s the magazine engaged with festival politics at Cannes Film Festival, festival controversies involving Palme d'Or winners, and debates on censorship linked to episodes in May 1968 cultural upheaval. In the 1980s and 1990s it expanded coverage to include Blockbuster-era directors such as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese as well as auteurs from Japan, India, and Brazil. Into the 21st century Positif has navigated digitization, confronting platforms like Netflix and streaming shifts affecting institutions such as La Cinémathèque française.

Editorial Line and Mission

The magazine's editorial line has consistently foregrounded auteurist analysis, historical scholarship, and defense of cinematic craft while maintaining pluralism across national traditions exemplified by attention to Italian cinema, Japanese cinema, Soviet cinema, Hollywood, Indian cinema, and African cinema. Positif's mission frames film as an art form requiring study of directors such as Ingmar Bergman, Luis Buñuel, Pedro Almodóvar, and Andrei Tarkovsky together with attention to production companies like Gaumont and exhibition institutions like Festival de Cannes. The publication has often juxtaposed readings of visual style with socio-political contexts referencing events like World War II, the Cold War, and decolonization movements affecting film industries in countries such as Algeria and Vietnam.

Publication and Distribution

Published monthly from Paris, the magazine circulates in print across France and in francophone markets in Belgium, Switzerland, and parts of Canada while maintaining international subscribers in the United Kingdom, United States, and across Europe and Asia. Positif has partnerships with festivals including Cannes Film Festival, retrospectives at Venice Film Festival, and collaborations with institutions like Institut Lumière and Cinémathèque Française. Its distribution model adapted in the 1990s with special issues tied to retrospectives of directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and commemoration issues for figures such as Michelangelo Antonioni and Akira Kurosawa.

Notable Contributors and Editors

Over its history Positif has featured critics, scholars, and filmmakers including editors and contributors who are also linked to movements and institutions: critics and screenwriters connected to names like Alexandre Astruc, Raymond Bellour, André Bazin-era interlocutors, and filmmakers such as Jean-Pierre Melville and Claude Chabrol appearing in interviews. Columnists and analysts who contributed include specialists on national cinemas who wrote on figures like François Truffaut, Robert Bresson, Yasujiro Ozu, Satyajit Ray, Werner Herzog, Abbas Kiarostami, Hayao Miyazaki, Wong Kar-wai, and Pedro Costa. Contributors often have ties to universities and research institutions such as Université Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle and archives like Cinémathèque de Toulouse.

Influence and Reception

Positif's influence extends through debates shaping reception of auteurs and industry trends, participating in controversies over auteurism involving Cahiers du Cinéma proponents and defenders of classical narrative cinema such as supporters of John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock. The magazine's coverage has impacted festival programming at Cannes Film Festival and shaped retrospectives at institutions like Museum of Modern Art (New York) and British Film Institute. Reception among critics varies: some praise Positif's rigorous scholarship on directors like Akira Kurosawa and Andrei Tarkovsky while others critique perceived ideological stances during political moments such as the 1970s and debates over market changes introduced by conglomerates like Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros..

Format and Content

Each issue typically includes long-form essays, critical dossiers, interviews, and filmographies addressing directors, movements, and national cinemas. Past issues have focused on thematic dossiers—examples include in-depth studies of Italian Neorealism, profiles of Japanese New Wave directors, and special dossiers on festivals like Berlin International Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival. Regular features cover restoration projects at archives such as Giornate del Cinema Ritrovato, obituaries for figures like Louis Malle and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and analytical pieces on screenwriters, composers such as Ennio Morricone, cinematographers like Roger Deakins, and production designers associated with studios such as UFA.

Awards and Special Issues

Positif has produced commemorative and award-related issues for prize-winning filmmakers and milestones including tributes to winners of the Palme d'Or, retrospectives on recipients of the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival, and dossiers timed with laureates of the Academy Awards such as Best Director winners. Special issues have celebrated anniversaries of canonical films by Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Murnau, and centered festivals like Cannes Film Festival or movements such as French New Wave, often coordinated with exhibitions at institutions like Musée d'Orsay or screenings at La Cinémathèque française.

Category:French film magazines Category:Magazines established in 1952