CROWN HEIGHTS — Lights, camera, action: there’s a new arthouse cinema on Rogers Avenue.
The volunteer-run theater Video Revival opened at 346 Rogers Ave. near Sullivan Place last week, bringing a seven-day-a-week slate of independent and experimental films to a former hair salon, the owners said.
The 25-seat space was renovated and opened by three friends, Christian Hendricks, Erik Escobar and Hollis Johnson, who have close connections to film, whether by hobby or trade. Hendrix is a video artist, Johnson is a photographer and Escobar is a “film buff,” Hendrix said.
“We all love film in one capacity or another,” he said.
The trio live in the area — right on Rogers Avenue, in the case of Escobar and Johnson — and wanted to bring atypical, non-Hollywood screenings to Brooklyn, something they thought was lacking elsewhere in the borough.
“We really wanted to be clear that it’s not just traditional film, it’s also video art, documentaries, a real wide range of stuff,” Hendricks said.
The space shows two films every night at $8 a pop, with matinees and midnight showings added on weekends. And all of the screenings are 100 percent volunteer-run. The owners’ goal, very simply, is to “sell enough tickets to make rent,” Hendricks said.
Current offerings include "Dogs in Space," a 1986 Australian film based on the Melbourne punk rock scene in the late 1970s, "Perfect Blue," a 1996 horror anime film from Japan, and the documentary "12 O’Clock Boys" about a Baltimore dirt bike gang.
Though Video Revival’s lineup skews eclectic, the theater will have more general audience-accessible “Family Matinee” screenings at 1 p.m. on Saturdays for $5. The space is also open for rent for special events.
Video Revival is open seven days a week at 346 Rogers Ave. For more information or to volunteer, visit the theater’s website or sign up for their newsletter for updates.
