Hamden documentary filmmaker Gorman Bechard didn’t have to travel very far for his latest effort “Best Video, the Movie,” at least at first. Bechard’s love letter to the once proud and ubiquitous video store starts just a few blocks from his home at Best Video Film and Cultural Center.
“Best Video today has over 46,000 titles. That’s more than Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu combined,” said Bechard in the Kickstarter campaign video he set up to help fund the film.
Bechard is perhaps best known for his rock documentaries, like “Color Me Obsessed,” the 2011 film about the Minneapolis-based '80s rock band The Replacements, as well as “Who is Lydia Loveless,” about the making of the singer-songwriter’s 2016 album “Real” and the subsequent tour with her band.
In “Best Video, the Movie,”, Bechard chronicles the ups and downs of the Hamden institution, which film buff Hank Paper opened in 1985 with just 500 titles.
“Every single title I could easily recommend,” said Paper in the trailer for the documentary. ”I wasn’t just a businessman, I knew something about movies. I had a great staff.”
Bechard’s documentary also profiles other video stores across the country that have survived and thrived in the new millennium, and, like Best Video, have become a mecca for film buffs.
“These are the stores that are allowing you to watch what you want to watch, not some cold algorithm,” Bechard said. “No, if you go into one of these stores you get a recommendation from a human being, someone who is also a film lover.”
“Best Video, the Movie” is currently in the production phase. A trailer for the documentary is available on Kickstarter.
