Now for a look at a film sector that many people thought was long gone. Video rentals may be a thing of the past, but they are returning to today. Movie fanatics in the US city of Baltimore are reliving the nostalgia of browsing films the retro way by reviving their local video store. CGTN's Giles Gibson has the story.

For today's teenagers, video rental stores are ancient history. But the founders of the Beyond Video store in Baltimore in the U.S. state of Maryland believe we're in danger of losing something special in the era of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

ERIC HATCH BEYOND VIDEO "People are really reigniting the pleasure of browsing with physical items and not staring at a screen, not hunched over, scrolling, clicking. There's something that feels kind of deadening and stultifying about that experience, I think."

Just six months after opening, the store now boasts a collection of more than 12-thousand titles on VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray.

GILES GIBSON BALTIMORE "As video rental stores die out, the founders of this store say communities are losing access to film history and culture. This room showcases directors from Charlie Chaplin to James Cameron."

ERIC HATCH BEYOND VIDEO "There's a guy in Finland who sent us a bunch of Finnish movies."

Customers pay a monthly subscription of up to 20 dollars to rent new releases and carefully-curated classics, many of them donated from around the world. In comparison, a premium subscription to Netflix costs just under 16 dollars a month. Observers say streaming services offer a user experience that's faster and more intelligent than flipping through piles of DVDs.

BLAKE MORGAN CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE FUTURIST "The power of data, machine learning and AI has allowed companies like Netflix to tailor the content, to find content that every individual user will love, because their research and data shows that individuals watch really eclectic stuff. And that is the power of data, of AI and machine learning, to create this content that is so delicious and personal to the user."

Beyond Video is in a David versus Goliath fight, an independent store up against billion-dollar streaming giants.

ERIC HATCH BEYOND VIDEO "There are some older customers who clearly never felt like streaming was a legitimate replacement for the old school video store. But I've been really heartened by how many people in their early twenties - even college students have been coming in."

That new generation means they're confident video rental stores do have a future. Giles Gibson, CGTN, Baltimore.