Be Kind Rewind
2008 Motion picture film
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Theatrical release poster
Additional data
| Producer | Michel Gondry , Julie Fong, Georges Bermann |
| Editor | Jeff Buchanan |
| Music | Jean-Michel Bernard, Melissa Manchester |
| Production company | New Line Cinema, Partizan Films |
| Distributor | New Line Cinema (United States), EuropaCorp Distribution (France), Pathé Distribution (United Kingdom) |
| Release date | 2008-01-20T00:00:00.000-05:00 Sundance, 2008-02-15 United Kingdom, February 22, 2008 (United States), March 5, 2008 (France) |
| Language | English |
Description
Be Kind Rewind is a 2008 buddy comedy film written and directed by Michel Gondry, and starring Jack Black, Mos Def, Melonie Diaz, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow and Sigourney Weaver. The film first appeared on January 20, 2008 at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. It was later shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film opened on February 22, 2008 in the United Kingdom and in North America.
The title is inspired by a phrase that was commonly displayed on video rental cassettes in America during the medium's heyday.
Sweded
Films that were erased and recreated are referred to as having been sweded. These remakes are unedited with only a single take per scene. The tapes are described as having come from Sweden as an excuse for higher rental fees and longer wait times. Jerry fabricates the word "sweded" while arguing with Craig (Chandler Parker) and his gang.
In light of the theme of sweding, director Michel Gondry sweded a version of the trailer of the film, starring himself. On the official website, users can engage in sweding, which puts their faces on the VHS cover of a movie.[6] The Be Kind Rewind YouTube channel also encourages filmmakers to create sweded versions of popular movies. A Sweded Film Festival launched in 2016 to showcase fanmade sweded films.
The theme of sweding also relates to film history, in that the collectively made remakes represent social memories of films, and memories that arise through films.