Trailer For VIDEOHEAVEN Doc, Which is a Tribute To Video Stores of the Past
Here’s a trailer for a upcopming documentary film titled Videoheaven, which is a tribute to the video stores of the past that many of us grew up with.
I have so many fond memories of spending time in video stores as a kid with my freinds looking for movie to watch for entertianment. It’s also how we educated ourselves in filmmaking
“For some thirty years, from the 1980s until their decline in the 2010s, video shops were crucial arenas for film culture – and both highbrow and lowbrow American cinema has documented their rise, fall and changing meanings.
“Alex Ross Perry’s Videoheaven, a labour of love ten years in the making, retraces this history using solely appropriated footage from a vast array of films, ranging from huge Hollywood productions to non-professional no-budget affairs, sold solely at their neighbourhood video shop.
“Inspired by Daniel Herbert's book "Videoland: Movie Culture at the American Video Store", Perry renders the video shops a mirror for a wider social history of various developments in media, community structures and the flow of capital – how, for example, the early video shops with their bespoke, responsive curation, were pushed aside by chains with commercial, centralised selections, and how a culture of secret knowledge once generously shared was turned into an institution for the manufacturing of consensus...”
The movie was directed by Alex Ross Perry and it was narrated by Maya Hawke. The doc is also a full-on 3 hour film! If you grew up in the day of video store, this is sure to take on on nostalgic trip back in time.
Videoheaven opens in select theaters starting July 2nd, 2025.
📼 First look at the trailer for #Videoheaven, Alex Ross Perry’s essay-documentary about the rise and fall of the video store. Narrated by Maya Hawke.
— Letterboxd (@letterboxd) June 21, 2025
Opens at @ifccenter in New York July 2, and Vidiots in LA August 6, with expansion to follow. pic.twitter.com/V7lGOMO7xY