This article presents a case study of the innovative Japanese film education project Children Meet Cinema, through aspects of an interview with its founder Etsuko Dohi, placed within a wider discussion of the project's pedagogical approaches. In particular, the article details the innovative manner in which Children Meet Cinema has invited some of Japan's leading film-makers -- among them, Nobuhiro Suwa, Hirokazu Koreeda and Naomi Kawase -- to engage with children making films for the first time.