The author wearing a newly purchased piece of Scandinavian knitwear.

What a huge honour it was to introduce the North Korean documentary “Country of Orchards” (1972) at the Swedish Film Institute.

A huge thank you to those who came out and watched the pristine 35mm print from the Swedish archives. I like to imagine what Swedish films were sent the other way and found their way into Kim Jong-Il’s personal collection…

I also found out the incredible story of the 1,000 Swedish Volvos that were sent to North Korea in the ’70s and were never paid for.

I guess they must have thought that a 35mm print of a documentary about agriculture was more than enough.