The Filmkollektiv Zurich's documentary Cinema - Dead or Alive is an excellent introduction to Tanner's methods. Whereas most on-the-set films tend to be aimless collections of handheld interviews, concerted backpatting, and pre-release hype, Cinema - Dead or Alive is a highly-structured film in its own right, an imaginative investigation into how a movie is made. The movie under examination is Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000. Centering on the shooting of a single, key scene, the documentary leads one to an awareness of the many complex levels that constitute Tanner's cinema. Combining concrete analysis with witty plays on Tanner's own brand of semi-Brechtian technique, Cinema - Dead or Alive achieves, like Tanner himself, “a film which seeks a dialogue with its audience.”