Kim's Video and Music is seen in the documentary "Kim's Video." Courtesy of Drafthouse Films

Kim Yong-man, former owner of Kim's Video and Music / Courtesy of Kim Yong-man

Korean American Kim Yong-man and his video rental store, Kim's Video and Music, served as a cultural cornerstone in New York City's East Village during the 1980s and '90s.

It was an iconic destination for cinephiles due to its extensive collection of rare and eclectic movies, and it became a favored spot for renowned directors such as Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, Todd Phillips, and the Coen Brothers.

Kim's store, which began as a small section of his laundry in 1985, expanded into a chain of 11 stores with 300 employees and 250,000 members at its peak.

Following its premiere in Korea last September, the documentary "Kim's Video," released Friday in New York and Los Angeles, delves into the story of the legendary "video king" and the peculiar destiny of his collection of 55,000 video tapes. It is also scheduled to debut in China on April 19 and in Japan on May 1.

As an immigrant who settled in New York City in 1979, Kim did not hestitate to come to U.S. and was immediately captivated by the city's cultural openness, which led him to open a video rental shop.

Kim revealed that uniqueness has been his guiding principle in selecting which films will grace his store shelves.

"From the beginning, when I allocated half of the dry cleaning shop to the film section, I established a policy that prohibited the space from being filled with ordinary Hollywood videos. Instead, I sought out special and unique movies," he said during a video interview with The Korea Times, Wednesday.

"Back then, major distributors in the United States were not so interested in independent films, cult classics and films, like, from the Soviet Union, China and Eastern European countries. In New York, the world's cultural capital, even if all those great films gained accolades in international film festivals, people couldn't watch them," he said, explaining why he started to visit cultural centers of various countries, rent their videos, copy them and fill his "new acquisitions" section, instead of "new releases."

Playground for film enthusiasts

His stores were frequently raided by the police over piracy allegations, yet Kim's steadfast belief and passion for film kept the store operating. He didn't distribute pirated films for profit; instead, his priority was to make films available to the public that would otherwise languish in warehouses due to a lack of commercial interest from distributors. In fact, many directors, students, and professors from film schools supported Kim.

"The university professors were thrilled to find that Kim's Video had films that were not even available in their university libraries. They started sending their students to my store. We had so many great films from Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Poland and the Soviet Union and it became a paradise for film students and movie lovers," he recalled.

As he became enamored with New York's vibrant diversity, the shop evolved into a hub for indie cinema and underground music.

"In hindsight, I doubt I could have achieved as much success in other cities as I did in New York. There were many young filmmakers who could only afford to shoot 10 to 20 minute films due to budget constraints. I would then compile these films into a collection. At other times, I would offer my space to indie musicians and turn it into an impromptu concert hall, recording the live concerts with the onsite noise and selling CDs of the performances at the store," he said, adding that those efforts were met with positive reactions, which allowed his store to grow into a giant platform for indie films and the underground music scene.

All of his businesses, however, faced with the advent of the digital age, eventually closed their doors in 2014. As each store closed, Kim donated most of his tapes to universities in the U.S. and Korea.

But he had a different idea for Mondo Kim's, a branch at St. Mark's Place, which had the biggest collection. As part of his wish for his priceless archives to live on after the closure, Kim posted an advertisement three months prior to the shutdown in 2008 seeking someone with over 3,000 square feet of space to house his collection. The individual would also be responsible for keeping the collection updated with new titles and allowing free access to Kim's Video members. The small town of Salemi, on the Italian island of Sicily, successfully bid for the collection, becoming the new home for Kim's beloved collection.

A scene from the documentary, "Kim's Video" / Courtesy of Drafthouse Films

Tapes return to New York

The documentary, "Kim's Video," directed by former video store members David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, tracks down the truth behind the VHS tapes sitting in a storage unit in Salemi for years, gathering dust.

According to Kim, the film project has been the result of a six-year effort.

"When they first they contacted me to show the part they shot, I was mostly in doubt. After I saw what they have done over the past three years, researching and interviewing all those former clerks, I couldn't say no to their requests for help," he said. Kim joined them and together they took another three years to finally give the titles a safe return to New York in 2022.

He recalled the moment he saw his videos neglected, exposed to rain and dust in a warehouse in Salemi.

"It was akin to the feelings of parents who send their children for adoption. I had imagined they would be in happy homes, receiving love and proper care. However, upon visiting, I found them wearing tattered clothes, appearing unkempt, with dirty faces and hands. It was a truly heart-wrenching sight," Kim said.

After the return, Kim's Video and Music was relaunched as Kim's Video Underground with the help of the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain in March 2022. Alamo has made 30,000 tapes available to consumers to borrow and continues to digitalize them in order to offer streaming services.

"Kim's Video has a huge collection and it needed a lot of space. Finding a large enough space in New York City was not easy. Tim League, founder of Alamo and a big fan of independent and art films, came to the rescue by offering a space in the lobby of a theater in lower Manhattan. Alamo is also subsidizing the losses from Kim's Video, helping the iconic video store live on," Kim said, thanking the theater chain.