Under the supervision of Bernard Perron

This research project focused on the phenomenon of interactive cinema, specifically on works that integrate live action sequences and interactive possibilities. From the outset, it is interesting to underline that what we consider as the «first» interactive film, Raduz Cincera’s One Man and His World, was presented here in Canada during Montreal’s Expo 67. However, this geographic proximity is far from being the most interesting aspect of the phenomenon. Interactive cinema experiences, at least in the popular entertainment domain, are increasingly rare and the genre has undergone an undeniable decline. Nevertheless, at the turn of the 1990s, the enthusiasm around these experiences seemed to announce the coming of a new genre with a bright future ahead. The project emerged out of this first historical observation; what could have triggered this decline?

The project has allowed us to better understand what distinguishes interactive cinema and to see how it has (dis)integrated within the broader mediatic fields. Thanks to documentation, it has contributed to preserving the memory of a large body of works that were assimilated (more or less) to “interactive movies”. Our investigations led to a distinction between three types of manifestations: the interactive movie itself, the movie-game (associated more specifically to video games), and media arts, a practice that is as rich as it is diffuse. In so doing, over 421 works connected to interactive cinema were listed and indexed between 2004 and 2008. This research program has led to the analysis of a great number of works that sure seem “dated”, but still reflecting on the contemporary audiovisual interactive culture (immersion, interactivity, narration, attraction) in an exemplary manner.

Grant Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada (SHRC): “A History and Theory of Early Interactive Movies” (2004-2008)

Research Assistants

• Dominic Arsenault (2005-2008)
• Martin Picard (2006-2008)
• Guillaume Roux-Girard (2007-2008)
• Carl Therrien (2005-2008)

– Database: Filmography of early interactive cinema