WHEN I WILL BE DICTATOR is a curio that defies categorisation, straddling the line between reality and fiction (science fiction at that).

It’s made up from hundreds of reels of Super-8 and Straight 8mm film footage found in flea markets and junk piles.

From these decades’ worth of disparate footage a story is constructed about parallel worlds and alternative possibilities through the clever use of voiceover.

The multi-layered film presents vignettes of a world and people that have been recorded for posterity, only to have those memories discarded or forgotten.

There are echoes of Patrick Keiller’s ROBINSON IN SPACE, but the use of found footage adds an extra degree of fascination, which is further compounded by the fact that the voiceover is based on a true story.

Funny, thought-provoking and full of surprises, this film is a marvel to watch and is one of those curiosities the festival always manages to uncover. Not to be missed.