This bizarre retro comedy, shot entirely on VHS, takes us back to 1986. You know, when everything was still so straightforward. That's the year 12-year-old Ralph gets a video camera for Christmas. He immediately starts making home videos and recording TV shows he isn't supposed to watch. He accidentally erases his parents' wedding video while doing so, though. The result is a deliciously nostalgic stew of Tel Sell ads, meditative landscape painting and censored B-grade porn, which totally loses the plot. Even the American version of the Antiques Roadshow feels grim here.

This fun, well-thought-out pastiche of cultural criticism and nostalgia with cameos from Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins (the director's parents) refers equally to the past and present. A scientist on a talk show prophetically warns us about the dangers of video: "One day we will all have mini VHS cams in our pockets! The world will exist to be filmed".

Director
Jack Henry Robbins
Premiere
International premiere
Country of production
USA
Year
2019
Festival Edition
IFFR 2020
Length
72'
Medium
DCP
Language
English
Producer
Delaney Schenker
Production Company
Hot Winter Films
Sales
Yellow Veil Pictures
Screenplay
Jack Henry Robbins, Nunzio Randazzo
Cinematography
Nate Gold
Editor
Avner Shiloah
Production Design
Tyler Jensen
Music
Eric D. Johnson
Cast
Mason McNulty, Rahm Berkshaw, Kerri Kenny, Charlyne Yi, Courtney Pauroso, Thomas Lennon, Mark Proksch
Director
Jack Henry Robbins
Premiere
International premiere
Country of production
USA
Year
2019
Festival Edition
IFFR 2020
Length
72'
Medium
DCP
Language
English
Producer
Delaney Schenker
Production Company
Hot Winter Films
Sales
Yellow Veil Pictures
Screenplay
Jack Henry Robbins, Nunzio Randazzo
Cinematography
Nate Gold
Editor
Avner Shiloah
Production Design
Tyler Jensen
Music
Eric D. Johnson
Cast
Mason McNulty, Rahm Berkshaw, Kerri Kenny, Charlyne Yi, Courtney Pauroso, Thomas Lennon, Mark Proksch