The documentary premiered at the 2019 New York Film Festival and had a limited release in March 2020 that coincided with the annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.[4][5] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was released as video on demand as part of Greenwich Entertainment's virtual cinema initiative on April 17, 2020.[6][5]
Reception
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Inviting viewers into a fascinating world of bibliophiles, The Booksellers is a documentary that's easy to curl up and get lost in."[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[8] A review in Variety said of the film "Lovely and wistful. 'The Booksellers' is a documentary for anyone who can still look at a book and see a dream, a magic teleportation device, an object that contains the world."[9]NPR's review called the film "beguiling" and noted "most of the story is told by eccentrics you've never heard of but will enjoy meeting."[10]The New York Times review said, "Survival — of books, and of the rare-book business itself — is a major theme of the documentary, which plunges viewers into this world via the passionate, eclectic, undersung people who make it all hum: the booksellers".[11]