Kino im Kopf

Died-too-young maverick master Michael Glawogger always dreamed of a cinema that transcended all genres and borders – total cinema, a bit like totaalvoetbal. His most brazen-cum-daring experiment in this respect is Kino im Kopf, which manages to be fiction and documentary and experimental feature all at the same time. The film suggests that Glawogger placed an ad in the papers to find his protagonists: non-professional cinéastes of all stripes who had a dream project they were desperate to realise, if only partially. Which is what Glawogger offered them: the chance to direct some scenes from this project for and with him, which he then would edit into a grand weave of desires where the boundaries between projects would also collapse into a single vision. Of what: cinema’s triumph, or cinema’s failure? Two decades plus on from its original release, Kino im Kopf looks more visionary/philosophical, more complex and deeper than ever before. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)