Those who enjoy cult and rare original VHS tapes or DVDs and reside in New York will remember the story of Kim’s Video. Although the East Village establishment closed in 2014, its rental collection (which left NYC in 2008 after the closing of Mondo Kim’s) has recently returned to Alamo Drafthouse’s Lower Manhattan location.
Physical media reigns supreme in Kim’s Video, an elegiac tribute to the iconic video store in New York City that inspired a generation of cinephiles before it mysteriously closed its doors and sent its legendary film archive to a small and slightly dubious Sicilian village for “safekeeping.” But what starts as an homage to cinema quickly becomes a rescue mission to ensure the eternal preservation of the beloved video collection.
David Redmon and Ashley Sabin’s remarkable documentary, which is haunted by the ghosts of cinema, brings Youngman Kim’s collection to David’s attention, and he eventually manages to save and return it to Lower Manhattan. The end was happy, and now Alamo Drafthouse’s lower Manhattan location has a collection of over 55,000 rare VHS tapes and DVDs from the chain’s flagship Mondo Kim’s that can be rented. Nick Prueher was in charge of maintaining and cataloging the titles.
Redmon and Sabin’s Kim’s Video gives us an accurate depiction of how the deal went down. A new documentary scheduled to premiere on April 5 will explore the history, trajectory, and cultural impact of Kim’s Video and Music, the East Village video and music retail store that many New Yorkers still fondly remember.
The inspiration of a business that helped shape the city’s character into new artistic endeavors is always exciting.
The Interview with Director David Redmon at the Tribeca film Festival.