The diverse language around a book is at the very heart of A.B. Zax beautifully study. The worse that America gets in terms of political, the more the small stories of people need be focused on. The person in question here is Matt Tannenbaum. He looks like a hippy. He loves the beats (who doesn’t). He also runs a Bookstore in Lenox, Massachusetts. He is a good businessman. He loves what he does. He works hard. He is stirred by the feel of a book. Adores the way it travels in the mind. Is mesmerised by the smells of a new page. In every word he speaks, you taste his imagination being stirred.

I can see that one side of the political spectrum love this. They are fawning. But they aren’t the people who should watch this. There is a simmering conservative expectation that at a time of banning books, those who are dangerous are those who can grant access to them. But these people need to meet Matt Tannenbaum. They need to see another angle. He works hard. He creates something with his skill and savvy. He is a businessman of astuteness. He makes money from graft. Not the worker graft of the ‘common man’, that these conservatives look down at and feel they can bilk. He is a cerebral man. Presiding at The Bookstore for over forty years, Matt has made it his own and it is. He weaves his shop narrative as a kind of place to get lost in. For dreams to be cast in.

Then Covid came. In the shadow of adversity, a small town rallies to protect a beloved local bookstore in its hour of need. This is the story of community and courage. A story of how you can rally to a cause for good by being both passive and passionate. Its brilliance is that it never hides the fact that Matt is a man of purpose. His many stories also add weight to this. But he also is a classic American. A tale of money and the magic of many ways to stand up and make it. Its a film of capitalism, community and compassion. Those three words are rare in a sentence…

Bulldog Film Distribution presents Hello, Bookstore in Cinemas and On Demand 30 June 2023