Category Archives: Uncategorized

Taedongmun Cinema House

Posted on November 12, 2012 by

I discovered the mother-lode of North Korean films. More on that later. For now, here’s a documentary – in English – on the cinema in the middle of Pyongyang. So happy to have tracked this down.

Posted in Cinema, Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-il, Pyongyang, Taedongmun Cinema, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Book Review: North Korean Cinema: A History

Posted on October 31, 2012 by

This has been a long time coming. It’s coming up to two years that I’ve been intermittently running this site. And before that it was a a good year or two that I was talking about writing “something” about North Korean cinema. … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-production, Kim Jong-il, North Korea Books, Pyongyang International Film Festival, Shin Sang-ok, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Potential Somi – the Taekwon-do Woman screening in London

Posted on August 23, 2012 by

CORRECTION: As was pointed out to me on twitter, these guys are actually searching for money to make this screening happen! If you want to see it, contribute! Well it’s not often I get to highlight screenings of North Korean … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

SEKs and The Lion King Mystery

Posted on June 23, 2012 by

In previous posts I’ve touched on North Korea’s animation industry, which, through a combination of cheap labour costs and skilled animators, has attracted a number of well known companies to outsource their movies (with or without their knowledge) to North … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Animation, Disney, Nelson Shin, SEK Studio, The Lion King, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Bend it Like Beckham on North Korean TV

Posted on January 4, 2012 by

It’s been an incredibly busy year for North Korea politically. And as December saw the death of leader Kim Jong Il, few (and by few, I really mean me) were recalling that this time last year saw the first screening … Continue reading →

Posted in Crossing the Line, Football, Koryo Tours, The Game of Their Lives, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Review: The Flower Girl

Posted on November 6, 2011 by

It’s difficult to over emphasize the importance of The Flower Girl (1972) in the history of North Korean cinema… and possibly even harder to find an analogous example in another country’s movie cannon. The US may have iconoclastic Citizen Kane (1941) … Continue reading →

Posted in North Korea, North Korean Films, The Flower Girl, Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

North Korea’s Cinema of Dreams

Posted on November 2, 2011 by

Filmmakers Lynn Lee and James Leong of Lianain Films gained unprecedented access to the Pyongyang’s main film academy for an exceptionally well observed documentary piece. It’s fascinating to see filmmakers battling with constant power cuts and also a group of obviously privileged students living … Continue reading →

Posted in North Korea, North Korean Films, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Money and flowers

Posted on June 19, 2011 by

    I finally managed to track down an English-subtitled version of The Flower Girl (1972) the other day. I imagine it will be a while before I manage to get around to watching it, but the iconic opening scene … Continue reading →

Posted in North Korean Films, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Unknown Heroes

Posted on May 21, 2011 by

I’ve already posted about James Joseph Dresnok (he made a cameo in from 5pm to 5am), one of the most notorious members of the US army to walk across the DMZ and essentially defect to North Korea. Another key player in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Crossing the Line, From 5am to 5pm, James Joseph Dresnok, North Korean Films, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Centre Forward

Posted on March 25, 2011 by

The excellent folk at Beijing-based Koryo Tours (the best people to deal with if you want to travel to the DPRK) licensed this little “gem” of a film directly from North Korea around the time of the last world cup. It’s a chipper … Continue reading →

Posted in Football, North Korea, Uncategorized | Leave a comment