Mr. Kim Goes to the Cinema makes its international case for why theaters still matter

Kim Dong-ho (provided by PlusM)

In late February, two pillars of Asian cinema came face to face at Euro Space, a beloved arthouse theater in Tokyo. Hirokazu Kore-eda, the celebrated Japanese director, met with Kim Dong-ho, the former executive director of the Busan International Film Festival — a man long regarded as the godfather of Korean cinema's global rise. The occasion was the Tokyo screening of Mr. Kim Goes to the Cinema, Kim's debut feature documentary, selected as an invited work at the Korea-Japan Community Cinema Festival.

For decades, Kim Dong-ho has been the architect behind Korean cinema's international presence, opening doors for directors such as Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, and Lee Chang-dong at the world's most prestigious film festivals. That this same man — now 88 years old — has picked up a camera for the first time makes Mr. Kim Goes to the Cinema something far more than a story of late-in-life reinvention.

The film is the product of roughly two years of fieldwork: Kim personally met with over 100 film industry professionals and visited more than 30 cinemas across Asia. The resulting documentary brings together an extraordinary lineup — Korean masters Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, and Lee Chang-dong alongside international luminaries including Hirokazu Kore-eda, the Dardenne Brothers, Luc Besson, and Tsai Ming-liang. That such figures agreed to participate is itself a testament to the trust and solidarity Kim has built across the global film community over a lifetime.

At the heart of the film lies a single, urgent question: in an era dominated by streaming, why should movie theaters still exist? The global film industry has been grappling with severe audience decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rise of OTT platforms has thrown the viability of theatrical exhibition into question. Kim's response was to seek out the people who have chosen to stay — those still holding their posts in projection booths, box offices, and darkened screening rooms — and let them speak.

The Tokyo screening carried a meaning that extended well beyond the film itself. Theater decline is not a Korean problem alone; it is a shared crisis. The Korea-Japan Community Cinema Festival, co-organized by the Korean Art Cinema Association (KACA) and Japan's Community Cinema Center, ran under the thematic banner "A Journey Through Korean and Japanese Cinemas," spotlighting the parallel histories of independent and arthouse exhibition in both countries.

Alongside Mr. Kim Goes to the Cinema, the program featured a series of KACA Award-winning Korean films: Kim Min-young of the Report Card, A Lonely Island in the Distant Sea, and House of the Seasons. Industry representatives from both nations used the occasion to engage in substantive discussions on the present state of arthouse cinema and the conditions for its long-term sustainability.

For nearly two years, an 88-year-old first-time director crisscrossed Asia, making his case for the cinema. The next step belongs to those still in the field. Moments like the Korea-Japan Community Cinema Festival suggest that the future of theatrical culture depends on exactly this kind of cross-border solidarity.

Sources

• SBS Entertainment News, "'A film for every person who makes, protects, and loves cinema' — the sincere message from an 88-year-old debut director", 2026.02.27

• SBS Entertainment News, "Film director debut Kim Dong-ho, former BIFF executive director, to meet Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda", 2026.02.27

• SR Times, "88-year-old debut director Kim Dong-ho's Mr. Kim Goes to the Cinema opens February 19", 2026.02.19

• JTBC, "Former chairman Kim Dong-ho makes directorial debut at 88 — Minister of Culture, Kim Nam-gil, Park Bo-gum and others send their support", 2026.02.20