In 1973, movie maniac and future leader of North Korea Kim Jong-il penned On the Art of the Cinema, the complete guide for all things film in the DPRK. Decades later, the big green book is still used by filmmakers intra- and inter-nationally to create effective and stirring pieces of Juche art, the socialist ideological core of North Korea society.
In the beginning years of the Third Kim Dynasty – amidst a sea of cultural change – a few select Western filmmakers would get a chance to make 21st Century Juche Art of their own. Spectacle is proud to present COMRADE KIM GOES FLYING and AIM HIGH IN CREATION!, two movies that display the full fruits of international cooperation, cultural brotherhood, and the joyous, revolutionary power of Cinema.
COMRADE KIM GOES FLYING
dirs. Gwang Hun Kim, Anja Daelemans, Nicholas Bonner, 2012.
North Korea/Belgium/UK. 77 min.
In Korean with English subtitles.
TICKETS HERE
SATURDAY, JUNE 3 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, JUNE 23 – 10 PM
SPECIAL EVENT TICKETS
SUNDAY, JUNE 11 – 5 PM with remote filmmaker Q+A!
(This event is $10.)
Endlessly sunny and hard-working, countryside coal miner Kim Yong Mi daydreams of becoming a high-flying trapeze star. A beneficial work transfer to Pyongyang and a fortuitous encounter with her idol Ri Su Yon lead her to the chance of a lifetime: an audition with the national circus.
A joint venture between North Korea, Belgium, and the UK. COMRADE KIM GOES FLYING is the first of its kind to be shot entirely with Korean locations and cast.
AIM HIGH IN CREATION!
dir. Anna Broinowski, 2013.
North Korea/Australia. 96 min.
In Korean and English with English subtitles.
TICKETS HERE
THURSDAY, JUNE 8 – 7:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14 – 10 PM
SPECIAL EVENT TICKETS
FRIDAY, JUNE 30 – 7:30 PM with filmmaker Anna Broinowski in person for Q+A!
(This event is $10.)
After initially being given a copy of On the Art of the Cinema as a joke, Australian director Anna Broinowski determines Kim Jong-il’s six principles of film are the exact tools she needs in her battle against the noxious mine being built near her home in Sydney. A first for a Western woman director, Anna is granted a 3 week apprenticeship in North Korea, where she will learn to wield the true tools of effective Juche Propaganda and end up making a quirky Australian docu-comedy in the process.