The Goteborg Film Festival, opening January 28, invites its audiences to be put under a hypnotist's trance at the start of select films.
The three selected film screenings for The Hypnotic Cinema are 'Memoria' starring Tilda Swinton, 'Land of Dreams' with Matt Dillion and Isabella Rosselini and Christian Tafdrup’s psychological thriller 'Speak No Evil'.
The hypnotist aims to "transform the audience’s state of mind in accordance with the mood and theme of the film". The trance will break only after the film has ended.
Jonas Holmberg, artistic director for the festival, said: "Watching a film in the cinema can be extremely hypnotic. At home it is much harder to maintain the focus you need to get really absorbed by a film. The Hypnotic Cinema is both a tribute to and an extension of the experience of watching films at the movie theatre".
Holmberg also said the experiment will "raise questions about submission, transgression and control". Questions made relevant by "the rules and restrictions of the past year" - referring to lockdowns.
The festival has previous with gimmicks. Last year, one lucky film fan was isolated on an island in the North Sea for seven days. While there, they watched the festival's 60 film premieres without any contact with the outside world.
The Goteborg Festival runs from January 28 until February 6. The full programme will release on January 11.
Check out the slightly creepy video below for The Hypnotic Cinema.
