We Heart VHS Forever

By Nerida Little / January 18th, 2012 in Talks / Austin / 169 views

Technology is always changing. Formats are constantly developing in order to improve on older designs, getting smaller, cheaper, more durable and easier to use. And just when you think things have finely reached the zenith of advancement, you have to teach your parents how to program another new device so they won’t miss an episode of Grand Designs. A lot of old formats are now obsolete; no one produces them anymore and your entire collection usually gets consigned to the nearest second hand store.

But wait. From Austin, Texas there come three superheroes who want to save one of those formats, the humble VHS. Okay, so they’re not really superheroes. But in this day and age of rampant disposable consumerism, they’re the closest thing we have.

Josh Johnson, Carolee Mitchell and Christopher Palmer are the trio behind the upcoming film Rewind This! With a positively chaste budget of $15,000 this documentary feature will follow the history of the VHS industry, from the directors and the producers, to the distributors, the stars, collectors, fans, and like-minded purveyors of VHS footage such as Everything Is Terrible.

The teaser above features an awesome 80s soundtrack coupled with a montage of schlock horror footage from VHS tapes. During the interviews, it becomes clear that VHS is so much more than an outdated recording format. What it represented upon release was a more accessible, more democratic way of producing and distributing film. It is great to see the passion with which the interviewees talk about VHS; from their collections to their cover art to their VHS tattoos. It is not just a hobby; it is a way of life.

Rewind This! is not produced with any corporate funding. It is still under production and you can donate money to the budget here. Damn the man! Fight the power!