The official story of the downfall of the Kim’s Video empire in New York last year consoled us with the revelation that independent media mogul Yongman Kim had found a happy home for his collection of 55,000 eclectic VHS tapes in the Italian city of Salemi. Eager to jumpstart a citywide cultural renewal initiative, the town was the only bidder for the collection willing to accept Mr. Kim’s slightly bizarre requirement that its contents be made accessible to former members of the video store at all times. What probably really sealed the deal, however, was the city’s extravagant proposal for a “Never-Ending Festival” screening up to ten videos at a time–24 hours a day, 7 days a week–and complementary lodging and projection rooms for the the store’s old clientele in a 17th century Jesuit college, which now houses the collection.

I am anxiously waiting for someone to travel all the way Sicily to see if any of this actually came to fruition. Until then, I think there is reason to believe that not every one of Mr. Kim’s weird and unusual movies made it across the great Atlantic. Last night, I was shocked when a friend of mine discovered the following hilarious post on Craigslist, posted by an anonymous ex-Kim’s employee at 11:40 pm:

Free Kim’s Videos (Greenpoint)
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Date: 2009-09-24, 11:40PM EDT
Reply to: see below
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These videos were once part of the Kim’s Video empire. Smuggled out by bandit employees, they can now be yours — FOR FREE. Yes, VHS is an obsolete technology, but CINEMA NEVER DIES. They’re out in boxes by the fire hydrant between 107 and 115 Greenpoint Avenue. They’re yours if you get here first.

Liberated movies include obscurities, novelties, classics, hidden gems & trash.

Location: Greenpoint
it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

I am inclined to believe that this is just one big September Fool’s joke. But in an environment where monkeybusiness like this used to go down, do you really think that all of the titles in the collection could have been accounted for?

Tags: bootlegs, Italy, Kim's Video, Mr. Kim, Record Store, Salemi, Video Store

This entry was posted on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 2:39 pm and is filed under ENGLISH, Sightings, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.