“The Kinoautomat in the Czechoslovak Pavilion is a guaranteed hit of the World Exposition, and the Czechs should build a monument to the man who conceived the idea, Radúz Činčera.”Kinoautomat: Člověk a jeho dům [Kinoautomat / One Man and His House] (Ján Roháč, Radúz Činčera + Vladimír Svitáček, 1967)
Jan
10
Representation of the People Act 1918
The audience about to vote for one of two scenes, with two presenters on stage.. DP: Jaromír Šofr.
Voting, for the Representation of the People Act 1918, UK.
Made for the Czechoslovak Pavilion at #Expo67 in #Montréal, Kinoautomat was the world's first interactive film. During nine moments in the story, a moderator would appear on the stage, and ask the audience where the story should go now. Depending on the votes, one of two reels would play.
– The New Yorker
After its very successful performance at Expo 67, and a one year run in Prague, Kinoautomat was banned by the Czechoslovakian government.
montréal
La maudite galette [Dirty Money] (Denys Arcand, 1972)
Aug
2
At a depressing, fluorescent-lit bar, men gathered at small round tables smoke and drink. A single man in a brightly lit phone booth places a call. DP: Alain Dostie.
The Disappearance (Stuart Cooper, 1977)
Jun
21
cereal
Jay Mallory (Donald Sutherland) eats cornflakes in a black-tiled kitchen in Habitat 67. At the other side of their hexagonal table, Celandine (Francine Racette) smokes a cigarette. DP: John Alcott.
“Tomorrow morning we'll get up early.”Le temps d'une chasse [The Time of a Hunt / Once Upon a Hunt] (Francis Mankiewicz, 1972)
Sep
1
National Hotel Employee Day
One of the men following Monique, one of the hotel employees (Luce Guilbeault, simply credited as “La Rousse”, “the redhead”) down the corridor. The young waitress (Frédérique Collin) can be seen in the door opening at the end of the hallway. DP: Michel Brault.
Le temps d'une chasse is the definition of unease. It starts at dawn, when two old friends pick up their buddy Richard (Marcel Sabourin) from the home he shares with his wife and son. The son, the wife insists, comes along. The men have planned a #hunting trip, in a cabin far away from #Montréal, far away from everything, with a beer-filled cooler at hand. The last they need is an underage kid towing along. But the boy comes along, she insists. With a trunk full of Dutch courage and a mouthful of boasting, the men find themselves at a hotel instead of the expected cabins.
Hotel days are short and its nights long and booze-filled, commanding their own temptation and regret.