Spiritismes

Seances is a 2016 interactive project by filmmaker and installation artist Guy Maddin, co-creators Evan and Galen Johnson, and the National Film Board of Canada,[1] combining Maddin's recreations of lost films with an algorithmic film generator that allows for multiple storytelling permutations.[2][3] Maddin began the project in 2012 in Paris, France, shooting footage for 18 films at the Centre Georges Pompidou (this installation was titled Spiritismes, the French word for "seances", leading to press confusion about the project title)[4] and continued shooting footage for an additional 12 films at the Phi Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[3] The Paris and Montreal shoots each took three weeks, with Maddin completing one short film of approximately 15–20 minutes each day.[5] The shoots were also presented as art installation projects, during which Maddin, along with the cast and crew, held a “séance” during which Maddin "invite[d] the spirit of a lost photoplay to possess them."[6]