Show Us What You Got

You love movies. And always wanted to make films but never had any money or enough people to do it with. Who knows, maybe deep down inside that’s the reason why you moved to NYC (should have chosen LA, but hey, it’s your career after all). We have good news! Come february 16th - you’ll have your chance to shine in a movie-making world. If only on a local level.

That’s when Be Kind Rewind, an exhibition of new work by Michel Gondry (author of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep, among others) opens at Deitch Projects, shortly before release of his film under the same title. It’s a movie about two childhood friends living in Pasaic, New Jersey, trying to make ends meet. After one of the characters accidentally gets his brain magnetized by trying to sabotage a local power plant, he visits the video store his friend is taking care of while the owner is away. Because his brain waves are all over the place, he accidentally erases all of the video tapes in the store’s inventory. The characters decide to make their own homemade versions of popular films in a junkyard behind the store. These new “sweded” films—recreations using commonly available, everyday materials—prove more popular with the customers than the originals, making the two friends local celebrities.

For the exhibition, Michel Gondry will recreate the movie’s video store in the Deitch projects gallery, where audience can make their own versions of well-established films. Sounds fun, huh? Who knows, maybe your home-made version of Matrix or Star Wars will be more popular and “cult” than the original. Or, better yet, maybe you can try and recreate one of Gondry’s movies. He would not mind.

“I intend to prove that people can enjoy their time without being part of the commercial system and serving it” - said Michel Gondry on the gallery’s website. We’ll definitely check it out. More information about the exhibit on the gallery’s webiste.