For two decades in New York City, Kim’s Video was the go-to video rental store for any cinephile in the city. Originally run by the enigmatic Yongman Kim out of his dry-cleaning business, Mr. Kim ammassed a collection of over 55,000 rentals in stores across NYC, and their knowledable clerks were your gateway into a treasure trove of rare and esoteric films. That is, until 2008, when Mr. Kim decdied to close Kim’s Video and give away his collection to a town in Sicily, Selemi, that promised to take care of it and make the videos available to any previous Kim’s Video members. But when once such member, filmmaker David Redmon, arrived, the presence of Kim’s videos were mysteriously missing.
This playful documentary embraces various filmic forms, from cine-essay and investigative nonfiction to experimental cinema and even heist movies, as it embarks on a quixotic quest to track down what happened to the legendary collection and free it from purgatory.
The co-directors of KIMS VIDEO, Ashley Sabin and David Redmon, will be joining for an in-person Q&A after the screening. As always with Cinetopia:DOC, we’ll leave time for more discussion and networking after in the Cameo Bar.
Warning: This film contains strobe effects and may potentially trigger seizures.
Cinetopia:DOC is a monthly doc club bringing audiences together to watch, discuss and connect around the documentary genre and craft. We screen exceptional documentary films alongside filmmaker Q&As or conversations as well as offer a space afterwards for continued discussion and networking in the Cameo bar. Cinetopia: DOC is supported by Film Hub Scotland, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, and funded by Screen Scotland and National Lottery funding from the BFI and the Scottish Documentary Institute and produced by Cinetopia, a hub of activity around filmgoing and filmmaking based in Edinburgh.
