National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2019
“A hilarious, in-your-face, bawdy-yet-provocative look at two sardonic young slackers (Dante and Randal). One toils as a New Jersey convenience store clerk while his alter-ego video store friend works when the mood strikes him.”
Selected for preservation as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
Directed by
Kevin Smith
Studio
Miramax · View Askew Productions · 92 min
Box office
$3.2M worldwide on a $28K budget
Honors
Sundance Filmmaker Trophy Dramatic — 1 winAll 1 wins · 0 nominations on record
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Clerks arrived in 1994 as a black-and-white shot of adrenaline straight into the heart of independent cinema, made on a shoestring budget by Kevin Smith and distributed by Miramax at a moment when the studio was reshaping what counted as commercial film. Shot largely in the actual Quick Stop convenience store where Smith once worked, it became a Sundance sensation and a defining text of 1990s slacker culture, proving that dialogue, wit, and a low-fi aesthetic could rival glossier studio product. Its success helped cement Miramax's reputation as a home for daring, character-driven storytelling.
This cell centers on Dante Hicks, the reluctant, put-upon store clerk whose entire day off becomes a slow-motion catastrophe of customer chaos and personal drama. As the film's everyman anchor, Dante is the character collectors gravitate toward first, since his exasperated presence anchors the film's rhythm and humor. Whether drawn from a trailer, title card, or credits sequence, a Dante Hicks cell represents the film's central perspective, the lens through which its single, chaotic day unfolds.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm monochrome analog optical release print of Clerks (1994).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed holes.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-band analog optical track.
Edge print
Edge print reads 'KV 18 24' as visible along the top edge; text appears mirrored indicating emulsion-up orientation.
Base & colour
Base appears clear with a slight cyan-green tint at the edges; the dye image is neutral black-and-white silver, consistent with a monochrome print.
Projection history
Light longitudinal scratches are visible running parallel to the film length, consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive black-and-white image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the monochrome photography is consistent with Clerks (1994).
Era check
The analog variable-area optical soundtrack, Kodak stock edge coding, and clear safety base are all consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063062
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
