02/06/2014 - Presented as the first interactive and transmedia feature-length film, a movie that promises to be an unusual experience was screened at the Nocturna festival

After participating in the third European Fantastic Cinema Festival in Murcia and in the last Gijón edition, Panzer chocolate, which has just been shown at the Nocturna festival, will also be screened at the Huesca festival, where the public will be able to actively participate in the film with mobile devices connected to the internet. One of the rare cases where using your mobile phone is being encouraged in cinemas.

The process is simple: the public downloads an application (Panzer movie), which will launch itself at the beginning of the film. While the action unfolds, spectators are given access to extra content (a total of around 12 minutes’ worth) through their own smartphones: extra scenes, different angles and perspectives, subjective shots, extra documents, games, and even the possibility to change the end. The film actually continues on mobile devices once the film has come to a conclusion in movie theatres.  

According to its creators, the production house Silencio Rodamos (in co-production with Filmutea and with participation from Kanzaman), Panzer chocolate is a pioneer in the new way in which cinema might be enjoyed and consumed. This should be greeted with great enthusiasm by younger generations, passionate about the little screen. The film is also a feature film debut for short director Robert Figueras (also a producer here), who put into images a screenplay he wrote himself with Gemma Dunjo and Pep Garrido, with a cast of young actors, next to veteran Geraldine Chaplin, who all speak in English – a key element considering the international ambitions of the production endeavour.

The film shows a group of archaeologists looking for pieces of art stolen by the Nazis, who find a clandestine base in the Pyrenees under the care of a diabolical, beastly and ultra violent being who will put their success under threat. The plot is a little disconnected. It tries to combine mysterious and intriguing elements, but ends up falling into the banal, all the while keeping up gory elements. From an artistic standpoint, the film has little to stand on. The only thing left to see is whether its potential public – according to the creators young people between the ages of 16 and 24 – will enjoy the novelty, which makes us wonder whether this is the future of cinema or just another attempt to explore new commercial avenues.   

Panzer chocolate will serve as an experiment and if successful, other films may offer something more compelling than a five minute extra ending. Time will tell. In the meantime, the film can be seen in the non-competitive section of Panorama.

(Translated from Spanish)