In 2007, the Cinémathèque of the City of Luxembourg conceived and realized the Crazy Cinématographe, a traveling cinematic spectacle presented at five fairgrounds in Luxembourg and the Greater Region. The key ambition of the Crazy Cinématographe was to bring the “crazy childhood of cinema” back to life by reconstructing the original setup of the fairground cinematograph. The project was born from the desire to bring the European heritage of early cinema out of the shadows — a highly entertaining and extroverted form of cinema (the “cinema of attractions” from 1895 to 1914) that, paradoxically, had until then been largely limited to specialized audiences (archivists and film historians). The Crazy Cinématographe project restores this heritage to its original audience: the general public. Films were screened in a Belle Époque-style tent specially constructed for the occasion, accompanied by a troupe of actors who animated and introduced the performances in the tradition of the pioneering era of fairground cinematography.

A European project as part of “Luxembourg and the Greater Region, European Capital of Culture 2007”

The Crazy Cinématographe was created as part of Luxembourg and the Greater Region, European Capital of Culture 2007, as a project to highlight the early European cinematic heritage. In collaboration with project partners in the Greater Region, including associations and institutions from Belgium, Germany, and France, the Crazy Cinématographe became a flagship project in the European and cross-border context of the cultural year — a legacy that continues to this day, for example through screenings at the Luxembourg City Film Festival in the courtyard of the Capucins.