PlayStation Studios and Kojima Productions, together with the company Filmworks, have announced that they are putting together a new documentary on Metal Gear and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima, called Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds.
The documentary will include interviews with various collaborators and fans of Kojima's work over the years including Guillermo del Toro, Nicholas Winding Refn, Grimes, George Miller, Norman Reedus, Woodkid, Chvrches, and Geoff Keighley, alongside many others.
It focuses on Kojima's journey to start his own studio Kojima Productions following his acrimonious split from Konami and claims to be a "thoughtful film [that] explores the power and potential of video games as an art form through the work of an influential talent revered by millions worldwide." It doesn't have a proper release date yet, but is slated to be "coming soon".
Like a few people online, we definitely have some mixed feelings about the project, judging from the contents of the 2-minute trailer that was released alongside the announcement.
On the one hand, it's great to see a video game personality be profiled on a level like this by so many outside of the industry, but on the other, it definitely smacks a bit of self-aggrandizement, with the documentary (in part, produced by Kojima Productions) making some frankly audacious claims about the creator.
In the opening twenty seconds, for instance, the documentary states that Kojima is "widely regarded as the first auteur of video games", which is a baffling claim that ignores the work of many talented individuals that came before him. It also doesn't look likely to acknowledge much of the work of Kojima's coworkers, who actually help bring his creative vision to life, instead focusing on building the legend and mystique around the "Willy Wonka"-like creator.
We'd be interested to hear what you think though. Are we expecting too much? Or do you also have some reservations too?