Kinoautomat

Lore & Background

Kinoautomat was presented at Expo 67 in a custom-built cinema with 127 seats, each equipped with a green and red button. The lead actor, Miroslav Horníček, performed the moderator's role phonetically as he spoke no English. The interactive element was achieved by switching a lens cap between two synchronised projectors, each with a different cut of the film. The version shown in Montreal was dubbed into English in London and subtitled One Man and his House.

Reader's Guide

Kinoautomat is significant as the world's first interactive movie, pioneering audience participation in cinema. Its design—where two plotlines converge at each decision point, limiting interactivity—was intended by Činčera as a satire of democracy, as the same ending always occurs. The film was well received at Expo 67, with The New Yorker calling it a guaranteed hit. Hollywood studios initially sought to license the technology, but under the Communist government the concept remained state property. In 1972, after a successful run in Prague, the film was banned by the ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia; Činčera's daughter suggested the authors were considered 'politically unconfident'. Decades later, a Czech television broadcast split the two reels across channels, revealing the secret of limited interactivity. Činčera, who had turned down that screening, insisted viewers felt cheated. The film's legacy includes influencing later works such as Walter Jon Williams's 2012 novel The Fourth Wall, which references Kinoautomat as political commentary on rigged elections under communist rule.

Did You Know?

• At nine points during the film, a moderator appears on stage to ask the audience to choose between two scenes; the chosen scene is then played.
• No matter what choices the audience makes, the result is always the same burning building, making the film a satire of democracy.
• The film was banned in 1971 by the ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, following the 1968 Soviet invasion, and its Prague run ended in 1972.