To coincide with our hosting of the shnit worldwide shortfilmfestival (Aug 22-27), for the next two weeks FOMO is celebrating filmmaking itself. We’re screening a special program for cinephiles built around movies about movies. We’ll look at filmmakers, actors, movie obsessives, collapsing productions, Hollywood mythology, French and Persian New Wave, and the strange process of turning an idea into something that ends up on a screen.
Some films are about making movies and the people who dedicate their lives to them. Others are about the places where we watch them and why cinema matters in the first place. It’s our own small celebration of the people, chaos and obsession behind the movies we love.
BE KIND REWIND
Michel Gondry | 2008 | USA | 1h42m | Presented in the original English audio with English subtitles
BE KIND REWIND is Michel Gondry’s wonderfully scrappy love letter to the pleasure of making movies by hand.
Jack Black and Mos Def play Jerry and Mike, two friends connected to a struggling neighbourhood video store. After Jerry accidentally erases the shop’s entire VHS collection, they decide on a desperate solution: remake the missing films themselves.
The results are gloriously homemade. GHOSTBUSTERS, ROBOCOP, RUSH HOUR 2 and other recognisable titles are reconstructed with cardboard, household objects, improvised costumes and whatever else happens to be available. These handmade versions become known as “Sweded” films, and to everyone’s surprise, the customers prefer them!
That premise fits Michel Gondry perfectly. His filmmaking has always had a tactile, handmade quality, and BE KIND REWIND turns that approach into the subject of the film itself. The joy comes from watching people solve creative problems without money, equipment or permission. A complicated effect becomes a piece of string. A large set becomes a room dressed differently. The limitations become part of the personality.
There’s also something quite moving underneath the comedy. The film arrived at a moment when VHS culture and neighbourhood video stores were already disappearing. BE KIND REWIND understands those spaces as more than retail. They were important third places where people discovered films, argued about them, recommended them to each other and built small communities around shared taste.
That makes it an ideal part of our two-week celebration of filmmaking itself, running alongside FOMO’s hosting of the shnit Worldwide Shortfilmfestival this August 22-27. Across the program, we’re looking at directors, actors, movie obsessives, collapsing productions and the strange process of turning ideas into images.
BE KIND REWIND approaches that idea from the most democratic angle possible. You don’t need a studio, a giant crew or an enormous budget to make something people care about. Sometimes you need a camera, a few friends and enough enthusiasm to make the whole thing work..
FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: FOMO Cinema Lounge Bar opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 02:00, serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments including coffee and tea, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol from outside allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!
LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.
HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTMzMTA2Mjk0MDI5MjM1
FOMO Secret Cinema • Bazari Orbeliani, 0105 Tbilisi, Georgia
