Secret Cinema has been moved to Tue Jan 27th due to the winter storm!

The Sleeping Giant Reading Series brings writers and book lovers together on the third Thursday of the month. In the long shadow of Hamden’s Sleeping Giant, writers of every kind gather to hear professional readings, raise a glass, network, and support one another’s work. All are welcome, whether you’re a scribbler who hasn’t yet dared to call yourself a “writer” or an experienced published author.

Curated by local writers Alice Mattison, Sandi Shelton (aka Maddie Dawson), Kathy Czepiel, and Heather Jessen, the Sleeping Giant Reading Series happens every third Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Best Video Film and Cultural Center in Hamden, Connecticut. The Sleeping Giant Reading Series is free to attend. Donations at the door for our guest readers are always appreciated.

For January’s Installment, we have writers James Bergen and Wally Lamb.

“Subversive and disarming, Berger charts his development as a poet with humor and panache. It makes for one hell of a ride,” said Patrick Pritchett about James Berger’s collection, The Meaning of Poems: Selected Poems (as) Poetics. Jim has written six books of poems, two academic books, and is co-author of a book of poems for children. He lives in New Haven and plays euphonium in the Southern CT State U. Concert Band and trombone in the "This Land Walking (for justice) Band," which plays old protest songs at political rallies. Until recently he taught American Studies and English at Yale.

Step right into Hamden’s very own monthly jazz club…

Please join BVFCC and host Allen Lowe for our Monthly Jazz Night with Allen Lowe & The All-Stars on Wednesday,January 14th at 7pm. There will be a coterie of musical guests assembled by our host each month in a relaxed setting with tables and chairs to truly sit back, relax, and enjoy the great vibe. Of course, the BVCoffee Bar will be open for beer, wine, and café drinks. Cover charge is $10.

Allen Lowe is a composer, saxophonist, and music historian. He was voted Artist of the Year in the 2021 Jazz Times Readers’ Poll. He has recorded as a leader with: Julius Hemphill, Gary Bartz, Marc Ribot, David Murray, Nels Cline, Matt Shipp, Roswell Rudd, Don Byron, Doc Cheatham, and others.

“This fall, the jazz composer, saxophonist, and music historian Allen Lowe released what I consider to be his magnum opus, a four-cd set  containing 69 tracks exploring almost every musical element and style that could be subsumed under the expansive rubric of "jazz." One can hear elements of blues, R&B, bop, funk, rock, punk, avant guard, and much more, all beautifully composed and magnificently played (by Lowe himself and his colleagues). I've been digesting this music slowly, gradually, and repeatedly, and it just sounds better with each listen.
It's Allen's unequaled grasp of the entire history of American music that emerges in such idiosyncratic and creatively beautiful ways throughout this collection. I can't think of anyone else who could have pulled off such a remarkably ambitious undertaking. He is a genius, without question." -Professor Jon Karp, SUNY Binghamton

Join us on Monday, Jan. 12th for a screening of Velvet Goldmine at Best Video at 7pm.

Tickets are $5 for members and $10 for non-members. Hope to see you there!

Velvet Goldmine is a 1998 musical drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes from a story by Haynes and James Lyons. It is set in Britain during the glam rock days of the early 1970s, and tells the story of fictional bisexual pop star Brian Slade, who faked his own death. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and won the award for the Best Artistic Contribution. Sandy Powell received a BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. The film uses non-linear storytelling to achieve exposition while interweaving the vignettes of its various characters.

Please join us for Friday Lounge Night from 5:30 - 7:30 pm on Friday, January 9th featuring Wes O’Brien’s jazz piano. There is no cover charge, and the Best Video Coffee Bar will be open throughout for all your beverage needs, with Happy Hour pricing on beer and wine.

5:30 - 7:30 pm - Come on by Best Video for a nice glass of wine with a friend or a cup of tea and your book. Sit back, relax, and enjoy as Wes O’Brien delights with his great anecdotes and wonderful selection of jazz standards, show tunes, and ballads.

Tonight's all about good vibes, great music, and having a blast together. Let's make it a night to remember, everyone! 🎹

Please join us for Movie Trivia Night, hosted by Best Video member Michael Domangue, on Wednesday, January 7th at 7pm. Entry is $5/person. Teams of up to 4 members will enjoy 5 rounds of movie-themed trivia questions. The winning team will receive a $25 Best Video Gift Card!

A word to the wise…this event has become very popular (yay!). RSVP’s are strongly encouraged!

Join singer/songwriters Seth Adam, Jeff Burnham, Brian Larney and drummer Nick D’Errico for the first annual Fair Fest! In the spirit of trying to bring fairness to the world, we’ll be collecting food/toiletries/supplies for Keefe Center Food Pantry of Hamden CT. We’ll also be celebrating Seth’s 50th Birthday! The center has an ongoing need for food donations and other toiletries/household products. See list here: https://www.hamden.com/DocumentCenter/View/12239/Hamden-Food-Bank-at-Keefe-Community-Center

Please join filmmaker Gorman Bechard and musician Dean Falcone for their monthly screening series: THE SECRET MUSIC DOCUMENTARY SOCIETY on Sunday December 28th. Doors open for beer/pizza at 6pm, and the film starts at 7pm. Each month, they will share an underseen or unknown music documentary. Tickets are $10 for tickets

Closed for Christmas Holiday.

Step right into Hamden’s very own monthly jazz club…

Please join BVFCC and host Allen Lowe for our Monthly Jazz Night with Allen Lowe & The All-Stars on Wednesday, November 12th at 7pm. There will be a coterie of musical guests assembled by our host each month in a relaxed setting with tables and chairs to truly sit back, relax, and enjoy the great vibe. Of course, the BVCoffee Bar will be open for beer, wine, and café drinks. Cover charge is $10.

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE

Allen Lowe is a composer, saxophonist, and music historian. He was voted Artist of the Year in the 2021 Jazz Times Readers’ Poll. He has recorded as a leader with: Julius Hemphill, Gary Bartz, Marc Ribot, David Murray, Nels Cline, Matt Shipp, Roswell Rudd, Don Byron, Doc Cheatham, and others.

“This fall, the jazz composer, saxophonist, and music historian Allen Lowe released what I consider to be his magnum opus, a four-cd set  containing 69 tracks exploring almost every musical element and style that could be subsumed under the expansive rubric of "jazz." One can hear elements of blues, R&B, bop, funk, rock, punk, avant guard, and much more, all beautifully composed and magnificently played (by Lowe himself and his colleagues). I've been digesting this music slowly, gradually, and repeatedly, and it just sounds better with each listen.
It's Allen's unequaled grasp of the entire history of American music that emerges in such idiosyncratic and creatively beautiful ways throughout this collection. I can't think of anyone else who could have pulled off such a remarkably ambitious undertaking. He is a genius, without question." -Professor Jon Karp, SUNY Binghamton

On Tuesday December 16th, 2025 at Lyric Hall, we will be showing the film “Moonstruck”, directed by Norman Jewison and starring the incredible Cher, Tickets are $10 for ticket only and $20 for a beverage and popcorn included. Doors open at 6pm and the film will start at 6:30pm. Hope to see you there!

Come out on Thursday, Dec. 11th at 7:00pm for an evening of warm drinks, literature, and community at Best Video. The writers who will be attending the event are : Kevin M. Kearney, KKUURRTT, Emily Costa, Terri Linn Davis, and Felicia Rosemary Urso. Come out to support both local & national writers, and your favorite Non-Profit Video Store and Coffee Bar! This event is free to the public but as always donations are appreciated.

Kevin M. Kearney is a writer living in California. He’s the author of the novels FREELANCE and HOW TO KEEP TIME and has written about music, literature, and the internet for Slate, Stereogum, The Metropolitan Review, and other fine publications.

KKUURRTT is a writer from San Diego, CA. He’s the current producer and host for the quarterly reading series Small Press Nite. His previous publications include the novel GOOD AT DRUGS (Back Patio Press) and the chapbook BLECH LIFE (Bottlecap Press). His novel POP!, co-written with Tex Gresham, is forthcoming on Rejection Letters.

Emily Costa is the author of a collection of short stories, GIRL ON GIRL (Rejection Letters), and UNTIL IT FEELS RIGHT (Autofocus), a collection of diary entries chronicling her experience with intensive CBT for obsessive-compulsive disorder. She received her MFA in fiction from Southern Connecticut State University where she teaches English. She is the Creative Nonfiction Editor for Farewell Transmission and an Assistant Flash Editor for Split Lip Magazine. You can find her online at emilylauracosta.com.

Terri Linn Davis is an American poet and writer. She is the co-founder, co-editor, and the Xena: Warrior Princess of “Spin the Bottle,” for Icebreakers Lit. She is also the host of the sporadic podcast Too Lit To Quit: the Podcast for Literary Writers. Terri is a first generation college student, and after working various odd jobs throughout her twenties, she graduated with her B.S. in English in 2018 and then with an MFA in Poetry from Southern Connecticut State University in 2021. Her poems have been nominated for The Pushcart Prize and Sundress Publications’ Best of The Net. Some of her poems, fiction, craft talks, and poetry book reviews appear in Pithead Chapel, Taco Bell Quarterly, The Penn Review, Rejection Letters, Cultural Daily, The Daily Drunk Mag, Bending Genres, Five South, and elsewhere. She is an alumna of the 2022 Kenyon Review Writers Workshop for poetry and a 2023 Artist Fellowship recipient from Connecticut Office of the Arts. Terri works from home as a Technical Writer in an 190 year old haunted farmhouse in Connecticut. She is also licensed to teach English to grades 7-12. She is a sometimes-adjunct, teaching writing composition and poetry for her alma mater. Find her on twitter @TerriLinnDavis or contact her here.

Felicia Rosemary Urso is a writer and editor from Rhode Island, living in Cincinnati, OH. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing (creative nonfiction) from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, with a post-baccalaureate certificate in publishing. In 2013, she received a BFA in Literary Studies with a focus in poetry from Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts.

Work of hers has appeared or is forthcoming in Black Lipstick, Rose Books Reader, Neutral Spaces, Hobart, Had, Witch Craft Magazine, and XRAY, among others. Her essay “What I’d Ask If You Weren’t Dead” was nominated for a Best of the Net award and was included in Suicide: An Anthology.

She is an editor at Triangle House Review and Rejection Letters.

Felicia’s work has been supported by Tin House and Sundress Academy for the Arts. She is an alumni of the Tyrant Books writing workshop Mors Tua Vita Mea in Sezze Romano, Italy.

She is currently seeking representation for her memoir and is working on a novel.

Find her on Instagram, Twitter, or at feliciarosemaryurso@gmail.com.