Blocks & festivals / Kinoautomat(monthly) 

Kinoautomat was created in Czechoslovakia by talented team in 1966-67, but is generally considered to be the brainchild of Radúz Činčera. It was a performance, which combined a projected film with interventions from two stage moderators, which was shown for the first time at the Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo'67 Montreal, where it ran for six month as a one-hour show.

The film, One Man and his House, centres around Mr. Novák (played by Miroslav Horníček, a very well-know Czech personality) who finds himself caught up in various situations which represent moral dilemmas.

In specially constructed voting system, the audience members can change the trajectory of the film at several key moments by pressing red or green buttons: the majority vote would be carried out by the projection control room.

The film itself is a good example of "Czech New Wave" cinema, but its setting in a theatrical format takes its inspiration from the "Laterna Magika" movement which developed in Prague in the late 1950's.

After Montreal, the system was set up again at the Expo'68 in San Antonio, and had a run at a Prague cinema Svetozor in 1971. After the addition of some new scenes, it was performed for the last time at Expo'74 in Spokane. Now, again after more then 30 years back in cinema Svetozor....

Trailer here (vytvořila agentura EuroRSCG).

(text: www.kinoautomat.org)