New video co-op provides variety

B-movies, art flicks and porn are all part of the mix at Wilder

Oberlin has two extremely good film series, but for a long time the College has not offered a way for students to rent videos and view them in their dorms or homes. A new student organization called OC Video, which opened its doors last week, seeks to rectify this situation.

OC Video owns approximately 40 videos which can be rented by students for $1.50 for two days. The selection is diverse and includes many movies that were not available in Oberlin in the past.

"Our goal is to get videos you can't get at Mudd Audio Video or Campus Video. We also want to be an educational resource," said co-chair senior Anne Grady. OC Video was founded last year by graduate Claudia Woodman. Although the charter was approved, the Student Finance Committee (SFC) only gave them $100 for the start-up budget. This year, seniors Grady and Diana Valk decided to re-propose the club, and got a much larger budget of $3,000 with which to buy the videos.

"It was a lot of fun," said Valk. "It was interesting putting a club together from scratch, finding out all the things you need to run a video store." Unfortunately, OC Video was not given much room to work with in Wilder Hall. Valk said, "It's a really small closet. We had to work with that space ... It's kind of like running a mini-business, even though we get the funds from the school."

Before OC Video, the only options for renting videos were Campus Video, Mudd and the Art Library. Campus Video tends to be oriented towards mainstream films, and the small selection of videos available at the Art Library and Mudd are controlled by strict rental rules. "This is something the campus has needed for a long time. Even if we're getting schlocky movies, they're schlocky movies you can't get anywhere else," said Grady.

The variety of movies owned by OC Video is impressive. Roman Polanski, Ken Russell, Michael Powell, Maya Deren, Jean-Luc Godard, Andrei Tarkovsky and Michelangelo Antonioni are some of the more well-known directors represented in the OC Video Catalogue. Films by Todd Haynes, who directed Superstar (the life story of Karen Carpenter as performed by barbie dolls), and New York confrontationalist Richard Kern may be ordered in the future. Both Grady and Valk emphasize their receptiveness to student and faculty input. "We're open to any suggestions. We're still looking for good pornos. We only have bad ones," said Grady.

OC Video is attempting to maintain a balance between B-movies and art movies, with the unifying rule of thumb being that the videos are difficult to find elsewhere. Grady said, "We're really interested in getting movies for professors that they can't find." Sophomore Nate Knaebel, who is a new member of the club, said, "We want videos of your parents having sex." Grady doesn't concur, but offers her ideas for the types of films that should be sought out in the future. "We want to get rare experimental films, trash, porn, camp."

Although OC Video has a relatively small membership now, they welcome any volunteer help or suggestions. They're located in Wilder 224 and the tentative hours of operation are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 4:00 to 6:00 P.M.