The coming of VHS changed the way we engaged with films forever, if in different ways at different places on this planet. The technology might have been the same everywhere, but its meaning and use was reconsidered place by place.
Fittingly, the guests of our panel have very divergent stories to tell. There is IFFR programmer Michelle Carey who worked as a video store clerk Down Under; US filmmaker-photographer Jacob Rosenberg who’s a seminal director of skater videos; Petr Svoboda who was part of the 80s Czechoslovak video piracy and dubbing underground; as well as Rotterdam’s very own Gyz La Rivière who created a variety of works connected to VHS culture, including his latest film, Videotheek Marco (2025). Together, they will discuss VHS as a way to create communities and through these influence politics and daily life alike. We’re sure, the audience will love to share theirVHS stories as well!
