![Taedongmun Cinema in Pyongyang with trolley buses passing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Taedongmun_Cinema_in_Pyongyang_with_trolley_buses_passing.jpg)
The cinema of North Korea began with the
division of Korea
The division of Korea began with the defeat of Japan in World War II. During the war, the Allied leaders considered the question of Korea's future after Japan's surrender in the war. The leaders reached an understanding that Korea would be l ...
and has been sustained since then by the ruling
Kim dynasty.
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
and his successor
Kim Jong-il were both
cinephiles and sought to produce
propaganda films
Propaganda Films was an American music video and film production company founded in 1986 by producers Steve Golin and Sigurjón Sighvatsson and directors David Fincher, Nigel Dick, Dominic Sena and Greg Gold. By 1990, the company was prod ...
based on the ''
Juche
''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and f ...
'' ideology.
All film production is supervised by the
Workers' Party of Korea
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...
and generally concerns propaganda. North Korea has nevertheless produced some non-propaganda films for export to the wider world.
Film studios
North Korea's principal producer of feature films is the Korean Film Studio, a state-run studio founded in 1947 and located outside of
Pyongyang
Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...
. Other North Korean film studios include the Korean Documentary Film Studio (founded in 1946), the April 25 Film Studio of the
Korean People's Army
The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the '' Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General S ...
(founded in 1959 and previously known as the February 8 Cinema Studio) and the
Korean Science and Educational Film Studio (founded in 1953 and also known as the April 26 Children's Film Production House, and Science Educational Korea, or SEK.)
[Schönherr 2007, p. 145.] These studios produce feature films, documentaries,
animated films
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
, children's films and science films. According to a report from 1992, the Korean Feature Film Studio produced about forty films per year, while the other studios together accounted for another forty.
In addition to its domestic animated productions, SEK has
produced animation for foreign companies. Production costs in North Korea are very low, and the quality of animators is well perceived. SEK has done work on such productions as
Mondo TV
Mondo TV is an Italian production and television distribution company. Founded by Orlando Corradi in 1985 and based in Rome, Mondo TV is a public company, quoted on the STAR segment of the Italian main stock exchange, Borsa Italiana.
It distribu ...
's animated series ''Pocahontas'' and ''King Lion Simba'' and the films ''
Light Years
A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...
'' and ''
Empress Chung
''Empress Chung'' () is a 2005 lost animated feature film, produced in North and South Korea and directed by Nelson Shin.
Synopsis
In this adventure, based on a famous Korean folk tale, a daughter sacrifices herself to restore her blind father's ...
''.
North Korean leader
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
believed
in
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
's
maxim
Maxim or Maksim may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine
** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition
** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition
*Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...
: "Cinema is the most important of all arts."
Accordingly, since the country's division, North Korean films have often been used as vehicles for instilling government ideology into the people. A common theme is martyrdom/sacrifice for the nation. The film ''Fate of a Self-defence Corps Member'', based on a novel written by Kim Il-sung during the fight against the Japanese occupation reflects this theme, as does the highly regarded film, ''
Sea of Blood
''Sea of Blood'' () is a propagandist North Korean opera credited to Kim Il-sung. It was first produced as an opera by Sea of Blood Theatrical Troupe (''Pibada Guekdan'') in 1971. It was then later adapted into a novel by the Choseon Novelist ...
'' (1969). The latter film comes from a novel telling the story of a woman farmer who becomes a national heroine by fighting the Japanese.
Another favorite theme is the happiness of the current society. This theme can be seen reflected in titles of feature films like ''A Family of Workers'', ''A Flowering Village'', ''Rolling Mill Workers'', ''When Apples Are Picked'' and ''Girls at a Port''. All of these films were awarded the People's Prize before 1974.
Production estimates
The number of films produced in North Korea is difficult to determine. In 1992, ''
Asiaweek
''Asiaweek'' was an English-language news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its 7 December 2001 issue due to a ...
'' reported that the country produced about 80 films annually,
and a BBC report in 2001 indicated that North Korea was then producing about 60 films a year. In spite of these claims, Johannes Schönherr, an attendee of the 2000
Pyongyang International Film Festival, found little evidence for actual films or titles. He notes that the country offered only one domestic feature and one documentary at their most high-profile film festival, and suggests that the high number of reported films includes short films, cartoons, and short installments of long-running series. He also cites a 1998 North Korean pamphlet containing a list of films which had been made in the country up to 1998. This gives a total of 259 titles, and indicates that the 1980s were the most prolific decade with about 15 to 20 films made yearly.
The
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
magazine reported that an average of 20 films per year were made from the 1960s to the early 1990s. However, in the economic hard times following the
collapse of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
film production reduced, and from 2000 to 2009 only about 5 films per year were made.
Film festivals
The
Pyongyang International Film Festival, established in 1987 and broadened in scope in 2002, is now held every two years.
[
]
History
1940s and 1950s
After the division of Korea
The division of Korea began with the defeat of Japan in World War II. During the war, the Allied leaders considered the question of Korea's future after Japan's surrender in the war. The leaders reached an understanding that Korea would be l ...
following the defeat of the Japanese Empire
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...
in WWII
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, filmmakers in the North and the South sought to produce the first Korean film after the liberation in their respective half of the peninsula. Although South Koreans were first, with ''Viva Freedom!
''Viva Freedom!'' (자유만세, ''Jayu Manse'', aka ''Hurrah! For Freedom'') is a 1946 Korean film directed by Choi In-kyu. It was the first film made in the country after achieving independence from Japan. During the colonial period, Choi was ...
'' (1946), North Korea soon followed with ''My Home Village
''My Home Village'' (; 1949), directed by Kang Hong-sik, is a film in the war film genre, the first film to be made in the then newly independent Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). The film portrays the liberation of Korea fr ...
''.
Because of the secretive nature of the country as well as the lack of film exports, the exact number of feature films produced in North Korea is almost impossible to determine. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
) lists only 165 films produced in North Korea; some of which include foreign co-productions. Two of these were released in the years between the liberation from Japan and the outbreak of the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, ''Our Construction'' (''Uri Geonseol'') (1946) and '' My Homeland'' () (1949). Five were released during the war, including '' Righteous War'' (1950), '' Boy Partisans'' (1951) and ''Again to the Front
Again may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Again'' (video game), a 2009 adventure game for the Nintendo DS
* '' Again!!'' manga
* ''Again!'', a 2011 children's book by Emily Gravett
* ''Again'' (film), a 2015 Japanese film
Music
* Again (band), ...
'' (1952). These titles suggest that film was used for ideological purposes from the beginning of North Korea's existence as a separate entity.
Nearly all studios and film archives were destroyed during the Korean War, and after 1953 studios had to be rebuilt.[
]
1960s and 1970s
'' A Spinner'' (1964) and '' Boidchi annun dchonson'' (1965) were made in the 1960s. One of the most highly regarded films in North Korea, ''Sea of Blood
''Sea of Blood'' () is a propagandist North Korean opera credited to Kim Il-sung. It was first produced as an opera by Sea of Blood Theatrical Troupe (''Pibada Guekdan'') in 1971. It was then later adapted into a novel by the Choseon Novelist ...
'', was produced in 1969. The entrance hall to the Korean Feature Film Studio contains a mural of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il supervising the production of this film. This is a two-part, black and white film. The first part is 125 minutes in duration, and the second is 126 minutes.
Kim Il-sung made a famous call for ''Juche
''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and f ...
'' art in 1966, saying, "Our art should develop in a revolutionary way, reflecting the Socialist content with the national form". In a 1973 treatise on film entitled ''On the Art of the Cinema
''On the Art of the Cinema'' () is a 1973 treatise by the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. It is considered the most authoritative work on North Korean filmmaking.
The book sets forth several original theories, which can be applied to the ...
'', Kim Jong-il further developed this idea of ''Juche'' art into the cinema, claiming that it is cinema's duty to help develop the people into "true communists", and as a means "to completely eradicate capitalist elements". The ideology-heavy nature of North Korean cinema during the 1970s can be seen in titles such as '' The People Sing of the Fatherly Leader'' and '' The Rays of ''Juche'' Spread All Over the World''.
Part of this ideological usage of the arts was a treating of the same subjects repeatedly through various art forms. Consequently, the most prominent films of the era took their stories and titles from pre-existing novels, ballets or operas. The film ''Sea of Blood'' was also an opera and a symphony, as well as the name of an opera company. Future Minister of Culture, Choe Ik-kyu's '' The Flower Girl'' (1972, 130 min.) later was remade as a dance. This film won a special prize and special medal at the 18th International Film Festival, and is one of the more well-known North Korean films of the 1970s.
''Unsung Heroes
''Unsung Heroes'', also known as ''Unknown Heroes'' or more literally as ''Nameless Heroes'', is a North Korean war drama mini-series about a spy in Seoul during the Korean War. Over twenty hours long, it was filmed and released in multiple part ...
'', a 20-part spy film about the Korean War, was released between 1978 and 1981; it achieved notice outside of North Korea two decades later mainly because United States Forces Korea
United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a sub-unified command of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK is the joint headquarters for U.S. combat-ready fighting forces and components under the ROK/US Combined Forces Command (CFC) – a ...
defector Charles Robert Jenkins played a role as a villain and the husband of one of the main characters.
1980s and 1990s
With 14 listings, the 1980s is the best-represented decade for North Korea at IMDB. A possible turning to less didactic subjects is indicated with a 1986 production of the popular stories like '' Chunhyang-jon'' (1980 - 155 min.) and '' Hong kil dong'' () (1986 - 115 min.). Probably the most well-known North Korean film internationally is the giant-monster epic, ''Pulgasari
''Pulgasari'' () is a 1985 North Korean horror-action kaiju film directed by Shin Sang-ok. It stars Chang Son Hui and Pak Sung Ho and features special effects by Duk Ho Kim, supervised by Teruyoshi Nakano. The film centers around the legend of ...
'' () (1985), directed by a kidnapped South Korean director Shin Sang-ok
Shin Sang-ok ( ko, 신상옥; born Shin Tae-seo; October 11, 1926 – April 11, 2006) was a South Korean filmmaker with more than 100 producer and 70 director credits to his name. His best-known films were made in the 1950s and 60s, many of them ...
. Multi-part films promoting the ''Juche'' ideology, including '' Star of Korea'' and '' The Sun of the Nation'' were also produced in the 1980s. North Korean animation produced for domestic consumption is reportedly less politically dogmatic during this period, resulting in a large adult audience. At least one international co-production has been filmed in North Korea, '' Ten Zan - Ultimate Mission'', directed by Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
director Ferdinando Baldi
Ferdinando Baldi (19 May 1917 – 12 September 2007) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.
Biography
Baldi was born in Cava de' Tirreni, Salerno, on 19 May 1917. His early film work began in Italy in the early 1950s with films s ...
and starring American Frank Zagarino
Frank Zagarino (born December 19, 1959, in Los Angeles, California) is an American personal trainer and former actor, who starred in a number of low budget action movies.
One of his early roles was in the movie '' Barbarian Queen'' (1985) in wh ...
. Norodom Sihanouk, a filmmaker and former King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
of Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
, was among Kim Il-sung's good friends, allowing him to make up to four films in North Korea beginning with '' The Mysterious City'' in 1988, using the country's actors and facilities while in exile away from Cambodia.
IMDB lists only four North Korean films made in the 1990s. '' Nation and Destiny'' () is a 62-part series of movies produced from 1992–2002, on Korean subjects and people like General Choi Duk Shin (parts 1-4) and composer Yun I-sang (parts 5-8).
2000 and Present
The 2000s appear to be reasonably productive for North Korean cinema, having five listings so far. In a sign of thawing relations, the animated film, ''Empress Chung
''Empress Chung'' () is a 2005 lost animated feature film, produced in North and South Korea and directed by Nelson Shin.
Synopsis
In this adventure, based on a famous Korean folk tale, a daughter sacrifices herself to restore her blind father's ...
'' (2005), is a co-production of South and North Korea. This film is said to be the first released simultaneously in both countries. Another recent North/South co-production is the 3-D animated television series ''Lazy Cat Dinga
Lazy is the adjective for laziness, a lack of desire to expend effort.
It may also refer to:
Music Groups and musicians
* Lazy (band), a Japanese rock band
* Lazy Lester, American blues harmonica player Leslie Johnson (1933–2018)
* Lazy Bill L ...
''.
See also
*Abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee
The abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee occurred in North Korea between 1978 and 1986. Shin Sang-ok was a famous South Korean film director who had been married to actress Choi Eun-hee. Together, they established Shin Film and made many f ...
*List of North Korean films
This is a list of North Korean films and film series from September 1948 to present. Films, and film parts or halves with names, that are part of film series or multi-part films are not included separately to keep the list shorter and more reada ...
*List of North Korean television series
This is a list of North Korean television programmes or series. For North Korean multi-part films and film series see list of North Korean films.
List
See also
*List of North Korean actors
*List of North Korean films
*List of North Korean ope ...
*''On the Art of the Cinema
''On the Art of the Cinema'' () is a 1973 treatise by the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. It is considered the most authoritative work on North Korean filmmaking.
The book sets forth several original theories, which can be applied to the ...
''
References
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Korea Film Corporation
*
''Mock-up Location Streets'' picture album
at Naenara
Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. It was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. The portal's categories include politics, tourism, music, foreign trade, arts, press, information technology ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cinema of North Korea