Jessica Herman

Brian Chankin is making a business of his odd obsession.

The "foreign classics" film buff opens the doors of his LEGO color-schemed video store, Odd Obsession (1659 North Halsted), August 14 as an event space and a place where people can learn about film. Every Tuesday night at 11pm, the modest store that houses nearly 4,000 films--three-quarters DVD and one-quarter video--will transform into a forty-seat movie house. Chankin also invites clients to ask him to pop in videos that they want to test-run in the store.

Chankin characterizes Odd Obsession as an educational hub as much as a business. "There are no dumb questions," he says and assures potential customers, "I've already asked (them) all." His University of New Mexico BFA for photography in one hand, Chankin's been a self-taught film aficionado since he started renting nine movies every week at a store in Albuquerque eight years ago. Since then, he's been making local to international calls to specialized film buffs in attempt to scavenge information about obscure films and film genres.

"I've balanced what's going to make my business and what's going to make me culty," Chankin says of the ninety-percent obscure, ten-percent mainstream selection. If you don't find what you're looking for sifting through Godard's "Pierrot Le Fou" to the more contemporary "Mod Fuck Explosion" to hundreds of Spaghetti Westerns and camp and cult classics, Odd Obsession takes special orders for buying or renting films.

(2004-08-10)

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