Focus: Hold Video in Your Hands
Programme IFFR 2025
From the 1980s until their decline in the 2010s, video shops were crucial arenas for film culture. For the world premieres of Alex Ross Perry's Videoheaven and Rotterdam artist Gyz La Rivière's Videotheek Marco, we invite the IFFR audience to rediscover the various cultures that grew out of video shops – some in the cinema, and some in a special space where locals and festival guests alike will be able to screen their VHS treasures!
Overview of films
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IFFR VHS Club: Night of Error presented by Juul Barnard
A journey through the bizarre history of the eighties video store.In the 80s and 90s video stores were filled with action-adventure, horror films and Kung… -
Frauen in Berlin
Chetna Vora | 139' | Germany | None
Chetna Vora’s unforgettable chronicle of women’s lives in the GDR, rescued by humble VHS. -
The Master
Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit | 82' | Thailand | None
The story of Thailand’s Van VDO becomes a paean to the value of video stores. -
Melody Electronics
Albert Birney | 30' | USA | World premiere
An imaginary game walkthrough of 1980s domesticity in an early computer animation style. -
Muzan-E: The AV Murder Video Exist
Yamanouchi Daisuke | 65' | Japan | None
A journalist follows the trail of a snuff film in Yamanouchi Daisuke’s direct-to-video meta-horror. -
Raw! Uncut! Video!
Alex Clausen, Ryan A. White | 79' | USA | None
A loving homage to the work of a 1980s California gay porn studio. -
Razones por las que soy un infeliz
Ruben Nuño Lepe | 22' | Mexico | World premiere
A mysterious tale of elusive love for a loner usually found lurking in video stores. -
The Shrouds
David Cronenberg | 119' | France | Dutch Premiere
A widower invents a new device to watch the corpse of his deceased wife decay. -
Tausend Augen
Hans-Christoph Blumenberg | 90' | West Germany | None
Erotic dancer Gabriele gets embroiled in trouble in this 1980s German video masterpiece. -
The Video Dead
Robert Scott | 90' | USA | None
Otherworldly flesh-eaters arriving through a TV portal? A tale as relevant to now as any other. -
Video Kings
Lukas Bulava | 82' | Slovakia | None
Central and Eastern European rychlodabing (speed dubbing) is exalted as never before. -
Video Nasty
Christopher Smith, Megan K. Fox | 180' | Ireland | None
Three teens chase a cult VHS collection – until murder, mystery, and madness find them.