Pyongyang Film Festival

Infobox Korean name
context=north
hangul=평양영화축전
hanja=平壤映畫祝典
rr=Pyeongyang Yeonghwa Chukjeon
mr=P'yŏngyang Yŏnghwa Ch'ukchŏn

The Pyongyang International Film Festival [http://www.pyongyanginternationalfilmfestival.com [website] is a biennial cultural exhibition held in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. The film festival is an unusually cosmopolitan event for a state known to be reclusive to Western contact.

The event originated in 1987 as the Pyongyang Film Festival of the Non-aligned and Other Developing Countries. As the name precisely delineated, the festival was a cultural exchange between countries of the Non-Aligned Movement. The maiden event, held from September 1 through September 10, showed short films, features, and documentaries that were judged for competitive awards.

The film festival returned in 1990 and would be regularly held every other year. Recurrent subject matter included domestic cinema that commonly praised the high leadership such as a film shown at the 1992 film festival, verbosely translated, "Glory of Our People in Holding the Great Leader in High Esteem", and foreign films about revolutionary resistance. In 2000, officials widened the acceptable breadth of film watching, by screening Japanese films for the first time. Six films by director Yoji Yamada, including two installments of "Otoko wa tsurai yo", a long running franchise, were shown at the festival and in theaters.

The 9th festival, held in 2004, moderated cultural restrictions further with the screening of a dubbed and censored version of the British comedy "Bend It Like Beckham" and U.S.-produced South African drama "Cry, The Beloved Country". "Bend it like Beckham" reportedly delighted the limited audience of less than 100 who were allowed to see it. The film won the music prize.

"The Journal of a Schoolgirl", which premiered at the 2006 festival, in 2007 became the first North Korean film in several decades to be picked up for international distribution, when it was purchased by French company Pretty Pictures. It was released in France in late 2007. [cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1928365,00.html|publisher=The Guardian|date=2006-10-22|accessdate=2007-05-27|title=Cinematic bombshell from Kim|last=Burke|first=Jason]

In recent years, the film festival has included films from Western countries with which Pyongyang has diplomatic relations. Many of the films are censored and often have themes emphasising family values, loyalty and the temptations of money. In 2008, 110 films were shown from a total of 46 countries. [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-film11-2008oct11,0,7893170.story?page=1 "North Korea Film Festival"] , LA Times, October 11, 2008.]

External links

* [http://www.gluckman.com/NKFilmFest.html Now playing, in Pyongyang] – An American reporter's jaunty commentary
* [http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2004/200409/news09/21.htm#15 Korean Central News Agency:9th Pyongyang Film Festival Closes] – An official state news agency article on the 9th film festival
* [http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2002/200209/news09/04.htm Korean Central News Agency:Pyongyang Film Festival opens] – An official state news agency article on the 8th film festival
* visit the film festival with travel specialists Koryo Tours http://www.koryogroup.com who together with VMS productions made the documentaries: http://www.thegameoftheirlives.com, http://www.astateofmind.co.uk and http://www.crossingthelinefilm.com.

References

*Gluckman, Ron (September 27, 2004). "Kim Puts On a Festival". "Newsweek", p. 45.
*"To Pyongyang with love". (October 16, 2004). "The Economist".
*"Xinhua General News Service" – various wire reports