A sociocultural and existential center, the video store is a fundamental space for film culture that forever transformed the way we interact with movies.
This work is not only a love letter to cinema, but also a poignant evocation of nostalgia for video rental stores, which now live only in our memories. Ross Perry creates a visual essay composed of scenes from films and television series where the video store plays a central role. Among the fragments are memorable moments such as the scene from 'Videodrome' where James Woods plays a mysterious VHS tape that seems to have a life of its own; the episode of 'The Simpsons' in which Bart enters the adult film section and stumbles upon films by Truffaut and Bergman; or 'Clerks' where a clerk indifferently ignores a customer. With Maya Hawke's warm narration, the film portrays the rise of VHS in the eighties and nineties, and the key role of video rental stores in popular film culture. The result is a sensitive collage that, in the age of streaming, reminds us of the lost magic of choosing a film from physical shelves.
Juan Marín, programming intern at FIDOCS 29
Alex Ross Perry (Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA, 1984) studied at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and worked at Kim's Video in Manhattan. He directed 'Impolex', 'The Color Wheel', 'Listen Up Philip', 'Queen of Earth', 'Golden Exits', 'Her Smell', 'Ghost: Rite Here Rite Now', and 'Pavements'. He is also a screenwriter and has directed music videos for Pavement, Ghost, Kim Gordon, Sleigh Bells, and others. 'Videoheaven' had its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.