A 30-minute drive from Seoul takes you to Paju, a city known for its publishing industry. In this quiet city with its lush greenery, publishing complexes and an artistic creative village is the Myung Films Art Center. The MFAC is run by the Myung Films Cultural Foundation, which has produced 51 films over the past 29 years.

When you arrive at the MFAC, you¡¯ll see a neat building made of light yellow concrete. It is a complex cultural space where you can watch movies, enjoy artwork and eat and drink. Across the street are the offices and production facilities of Myung Films and the Myung Films Lab, which trains filmmakers. Before entering the MFAC, you will notice the posters of famous movies hanging on the building across the way, including ¡°The Contact,¡± ¡°Joint Security Area,¡± ¡°Architecture 101,¡± and other movies that Koreans love.

Walk through the doors of the MFAC and descend to the basement level, and you¡¯ll find a place that¡¯s all about movies. There¡¯s no fancy lighting, but a neat lobby that glows and has a bulletin board with posters of upcoming movies. Open the door next to the bulletin board and you¡¯ll find a large screen and plenty of seats. The seats are made of cloth, so they don¡¯t make any noise when you sit on them, and they have plenty of room for you to sit comfortably. When a movie starts, the audience sits here and looks at a crystal clear screen with 4K projection. At the same time, you¡¯re surrounded by high-quality stereo sound (Dolby Atmos system) from 46 speakers, and soon you¡¯re immersed in the movie without any distractions.

While MFAC¡¯s theaters are technologically advanced enough to host technical screenings of Korean classics like ¡°Parasite¡± and ¡°Decision to Leave,¡± that¡¯s not the only thing that makes MFAC films special. MFAC¡¯s interesting curation of films quenches the thirst for diversity in film. In addition to screening commercial and art films, the MFAC also organizes special exhibitions and special projects by certain directors. Currently, MFAC presents special exhibitions that include MFAC¡¯s initials. For example, in May, they presented ¡°M: Music¡± and in June, ¡°F: Fantasy¡± films. The films shown in the special exhibitions are selected regardless of the year and country of production, ranging from films over 100 years old to the latest releases. It¡¯s a chance to see a wide variety of films.

Movies are only shown on holidays and weekends, so check the schedule in advance if you plan to visit the MFAC. The movie schedule is posted on the MFAC¡¯s Instagram and website every Wednesday or Thursday. If you want to reserve tickets in advance, you can sign up for membership, choose your seats, and pay at the MFAC¡¯s official website. Of course, you can also pay at the door for same-day screenings.

At the top of the MFAC, on the fourth floor, you¡¯ll find the ¡°Screening Room,¡± a small movie theater that¡¯s open to anyone, anytime, for free. It¡¯s a spacious room with several fluffy beanbags that cover your entire back. You¡¯ll lose track of time as you lean back and watch the movie. There are movies playing all the time, so if you want to watch a movie from the beginning, we recommend checking the start times of each film on the MFAC website or Instagram. The artwork is also selected in conjunction with the film exhibitions in the basement.

On the third floor, there is an ¡°Archive Room¡± where you can enjoy movies without watching them. Here you can see dozens of works produced by Myung Films through photographs and objects. There are photographs of shooting scenes, reproductions of objects used by the characters and plaques of awards received by Myung Films. In this small museum dedicated to Myung Films, you can admire the pieces the company has collected. It¡¯s a great place to ask your companions if they¡¯ve seen the movie and what they thought of it. There are also illustrations of all the main characters from the movie. You¡¯ll definitely want to try to guess who¡¯s who.

On the first floor of the MFAC, there is a ¡°Cafe&pub,¡± which is the first space that greets guests when they arrive. This is not a small cafe attached to a movie theater. This spacious area occupies the entire the first floor. The light from the outside combines with the wooden furniture to create a cozy atmosphere. On one side of the cafe is the ¡°Goods shop,¡± which sells movie merchandise, stationery with MFAC logos, and a variety of movie-related books to pass the time.

If you¡¯re taking your food to go, take a look at the cups and napkins. The to-go cups list the people who created MFAC, just like you would see in the movie credits. Directors, actors, composers, designers and so on, with ¡°audience¡± at the top of the list. The napkin is printed with the phrase ¡°Life-time, Running time.¡± It¡¯s a reference to MFAC¡¯s desire for visitors to live their lives more like movies. You can take the opportunity to appreciate the MFAC¡¯s efforts to associate even the most mundane things with movies.

On the second floor, a small gallery welcomes visitors. It features works by Paju-based companies or companies involved in the Korean film industry. Currently, works by Paju-based screen printing studio SAA (Screen Art Agency) are on display. While admiring the vibrant colors of the ink and the world of the artists, you can also enjoy the MFAC garden in front of you. Tables and seating are also available, and it¡¯s worth noting that you can also enjoy food from the cafe on the first floor.

Almost everything in the MFAC is movie-related. But it doesn¡¯t feel pretentious at all. That¡¯s probably because the place is big enough to accommodate everyone who walks through its doors. This can only come from an open space that allows visitors to enjoy their time in peace, whether they are interested in movies or not. The MFAC entices you to come there on days when you want to see a movie, or even on days when you¡¯re not interested in movies. Either way, the MFAC allows you to slowly immerse yourself in the films and in the spaces it provides.