The fascinating FANTASTIC MACHINE (15) is available for school screenings at your local Picturehouse


The film is available on a book by request basis for weekday morning screenings from 16 April 2024. Screenings normally will start at or before 10:30am, but if you require a different start time please let us know on the request form.

Price: £4 per student (minimum 25 students, or £100 for smaller groups). 1 free adult per 10 students.



Suitable for: Year 11 onwards
Price: £4 per student (minimum 25 students, or £100 for smaller groups)
BBFC Guidance: 15, strong language, violence, sex references, images of real dead bodies
Running time: 88min

About the film

The camera is a fantastic machine. To explore, explain and expose how our unchecked obsession with image has grown, filmmakers Axel Danielson and Maximillien Van Aertryck turn their cameras directly on society itself to take a look at how this obsession has begun to change our behaviour.

From the Camera Obscura and the Lumière brothers to YouTube and the world of social media, Fantastic Machine chronicles how we went from capturing an initial image of a backyard to a multi-billion-pound content industry in just 200 years. 

With exclusive use of both archival and found footage, this outstanding new film uses the very medium it examines in an exhilarating, hilarious and thought-provoking way.

Winner - Sundance International Film Festival | World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Creative Vision

Read young people reviews from our Fresh Takes initiative here.

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