Swainson’s collection provides a nostalgic experience
Hamilton resident turned an old school trend into full time niche
Richard Swainson started Auteur House on January 17th, 2007, with a strong personal drive to create the best DVD rental store in Hamilton.
He describes it as wanting, “to make available the very best cinema for the populace of New Zealand’s fourth biggest city.”
Eighteen years on, what keeps Richard’s passion going for something that some people consider a relic of the past?
Richard said “It’s become a little bit of a bloody-minded goal of my own to finish what I started. Or to continue what I started, now that we are the last physical media DVD and Blu-ray rental store in Hamilton.”
Richard is proud of the collection that he and supporters have amassed over this time.
He said it has taken many years and significant financial investment to establish but he feels it “rivals any on the national stage” and reflects in a meaningful sense, the history of cinema.
Auteur House, and stores like it, are important to keep alive, because they do what streaming services can’t by preserving films and television for the future.
“Rights are negotiated on a streaming site, the tap is turned on in that sense, but those rights expire and in a sense the tap is then turned off. Well, the tap runs all the time in Auteur House” Richard said.
Along with preservation he said the human aspect of owning and working in the store is a joy.
“It is a central part of the pleasure of the process, of interacting, particularly with regular customers, who come in on a semi-weekly basis, who derive pleasure from not only seeing the films, but discussing them with you afterwards.”
richard swainson
Richard’s readiness to talk about film and film history is always on display, as well as a promise for Hamilton “I will continue to judiciously collect DVDs and Blu-rays and provide them to those few members of Hamilton who are interested.”
Interested in Auteur House’s collection, head to the Facebook page.
