Film is a collaborative art form, sure, but it also depends on a wider ecosystem of distributors, exhibitors, evangelists and fans for its survival.

This became clear during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Japanese filmmakers spearheaded multiple initiatives to support the country¡¯s independent cinemas, known as ¡°mini theaters.¡± As the organizers of the #SaveTheCinema project said at the time, ¡°Films are not complete until they are seen by people.¡±

That¡¯s the main takeaway from ¡°Hijacked Youth Dare to Stop Us 2,¡± an unlikely sequel to Kazuya Shiraishi¡¯s 2018 biopic about renegade director Koji Wakamatsu and the heyday of the Japanese New Wave.