North Korean Movies KoreanHistory.info

North Korean Movies

Thanks to Kim Jong Il's interest in movies, many resources in North Korea were invested in the movie industry. The Pyongyang Film Studios outside Pyongyang produce about 20 films a year. Most films are about the anti-Japanese struggle, Socialist themed andand historic films.

Kim is famous for his passion for films and is said to have a movie library of over 20,000 titles. In 1978, on Kim's orders, South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee were kidnapped in order to build a North Korean film industry.

The Flower Girl ( 꽃파는 처녀 ) 1972 with English subtitles staring Hong Yong-hee.

A North Korean revolutionary genre theatrical performance, supposedly written by Kim Il-Sung himself . According to official North Korean sources. Hong Yong-hee is depicted on a This movie was very popular in North Korea and China, as movie production was haled in China during the Cultural Revolution .

Pulgasari with English Subtitles

Pulgasari is a 1985 North Korean monster movie about an iron-eating creature who helps 14th century Korean peasants triumph over their oppressive government. It was produced by kidnapped South Korean filmmaker Shin Sang Ok and directed by Chong Gon Jo. The special effects were handled by Japan's Toho Studios

중앙공격수 Center Forward 1978 Sports drama

Wolmi Island 1982 Korean War drama

Hong Kil Dong 1986 Martal Arts

This film was particularly popular in Eastern Europe and Cuba, as it was

widely distributed among other Socialist countries.

Excellent north Korean martial arts film, Hong Gil-dong is the illegitimate son of a minister. He is very bright and smart, however he was told that he could not accomplish anything in this world, due to his illegitimate status. Thus he grew up spending most of his time being lazy and causing trouble for the people around him. However, a local monk thinks he is destined to be much more, and teaches Gil-dong martial arts. As the story progresses, Gil-dong realizes the severity of the injustices in the world, and starts to fight against these injustices. He steals from the rich and giving to the poor

A Traffic Controller on Crossroads 1986

Order No. 27 (North Korean Film) (English Subtitles) 1987

The Country I saw 1987

While serving as a journalist in World War 2 for the Imperial Army of Japan, "Takahashi Minoru" (Pak Ki Ju) sees first-hand the impact on Koreans who have had their national identity forcibly taken from them by the Japanese occupation of their country.

Flower in the Snow

"Ten Zan - The Ultimate Mission" (1988) Italian - North Korean co-production

A 1988 North Korean-Italian science fiction action film directed by Ferdinando Baldi and Pak Jong-ju under the pseudonym "Ted Kaplan". The spy film was made in English language, and shot in North Korea using Western actors. A group of ex-commando fighters must save the world from an evil scientist .

Nation and Destiny - Part 1 1992-99

A 56-part series of movies produced from 1992–1999, on Korean subjects and people like General Choi Duk Shin and composer Yun I-sang .

O Youth! 1994 Romantic Comedy

O Youth!" is a rare attempt at comedy from the DPRK. More specifically, romantic comedy. The film is about a family with 6 siblings, five of which are young sportswomen. The sixth is a 30 year old man, who is consumed with his studies and has not yet married. His mother wants him to marry an effeminate girl, because sportswomen do not serve the nation properly. His father and sisters want him to marry a sportswoman. The son falls in love with a woman who initially appears to be an embroiderer, but is, in fact, a Tae-kwon-do instructor.

On the Green Carpet 2001 Romantic Comedy

The film's title refers to the turf of the stadium which hosts the May Day mass games in Pyongyang.

The film is a romantic comedy, which involves a coach who is preparing a group of schoolchildren for the May Day mass games, and a former colleague who has now become his superior. She feels that he is being too demanding of his young performers, as the show he has devised requires a series of multiple somersaults. However, the children are willing to work as hard as necessary to please their leader, Kim Jong-il, and the film culminates in a lavish display of their abilities. On the Green Carpet was the first North Korean film to be invited to the Berlin International Film Festival,

The Kites Flying in the Sky 2008

Based on the true story of a former marathon champion who devotes her life to caring for orphans.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's love of film is well-documented, but few outsiders

know that he is revered as a genius of cinema by his own people. On this episode of 101 East we gain a rare insight into the beating heart of North Korea's film industry.