It’s been eight months since Kingston’s last video rental store closed its doors for good, signalling the end of an era that began with the launch of the VHS tape and the VCR.
“When I was a kid, walking to the movie store and finding a movie, like that was the most exciting thing you could do on a Friday night,” Braden Dragomir, reflecting on the bygone days, nostalgically recalls.
The advent of digital streaming services slowly put an end to the dominance of home video rental and stores like Classic Video. Dragomir, a local filmmaker, and his crew at Untold Storytelling aimed to memorialize that era and the impact Classic Video had on pop culture in Kingston.
“When the email reached my inbox, I looked at it and I thought about it for 10 seconds and said, ‘Sure, let’s go for it,'” Classic Video owner Tom Ivison said.
Speaking with Tom, as well as with a colourful cast of former customers, I Found It at Classic Video chronicles the final seven weeks of the video store, as owner Tom Ivison went through the liquidation process before closing in June.
“So to get to share that time with him, while, I don’t even know if he was grieving yet, but while he was processing 35 years of his life, was really special,” Dragomir reflects.
“It was overwhelming, in terms of the support from the public during the closing process, and now being able to watch much later in terms of, ‘Yeah, maybe it’s a tribute’, but I didn’t look at that way at that time because I was so focused elsewhere,” adds Tom Ivison.
The documentary uses humour and sadness in its 12-minute runtime to properly convey the impact Classic Video had on the lives of so many, including the man behind its 35 years in business.
“It’s a keepsake. I think the more time that passes from the store and its closing, I will cherish it,” says Ivison.
I Found It at Classic Video premieres on Thursday at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival with a 7:00 p.m. showing, followed by a 4:00 showing on Friday afternoon.