Be Kind Rewind (2008 Michel Gondry & scr)

The film resembles exactly the sort of thing Gondry himself would have been doing in his youth, inventing and making things up. Hilarious film comments on emptiness of Hollywood blockbusters (but also loves movies: the pastiche of 2001 is both tender and ingenious) and on a shared community spirit, loosely based on life of Fats Waller in Passaic, New Jersey (sort of - there's actually no connection).

Mos Def (aka Yasiin Bey), Jack Black, Danny Glover, Melonie Diaz and Mia Farrow lead mainly black cast. Displays a fantastic imagination that frequently has you bursting with laughter.

Shot by Ellen Kuras (also Eternal Sunshine). Gondry started out doing videos for Bjork and Massive Attack, then commercials. His other films include The Science of Sleep (2006), The Green Hornet (2011) with Seth Rogan (who co-wrote), L'écume des Jours / Mood Indigo (2012, great French cast) and Microbe and Gasoline (2015) also in France.