Pyongyang International Film Festival

The Pyongyang International Film Festival () is a biennial cultural exhibition held in Pyongyang, North Korea. Until 2002, the film festival was reserved to "non-aligned and other developing countries".

History The event originated in 1987 as the Pyongyang Film Festival of the Non-aligned and Other Developing Countries (). 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 when Yoji Yamada arrived to present six of his films. 2002 saw further relaxation of rules and since then the festival has been open to more than just "non-aligned and other developing countries".

The ninth 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 won the music prize and later it became the first Western-made film shown on television in North Korea.

In 2006, the Swedish horror comedy Frostbite was shown at the festival, the first foreign horror film to ever be shown in North Korea. The Schoolgirl's Diary, which was released the same year, 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.

Organization

The festival was held in the autumn every two years until 2018; after that, the festival has become yearly, with the 17th edition organized in September 2019. It has an international jury and both competitive and non-competitive submissions. In that sense, it is "structured ... very much like any other international film festival".

Since 2000, the festival has been dominated by films from Western Europe. 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."North Korea Film Festival", LA Times, October 11, 2008. South Korean films are not shown because of the current political climate. Films critical of North Korea from anywhere in the world are not allowed and neither are sexually explicit films. Anything else goes, and the organizers try to get as many films and visitors to attend. Diplomatic connections or the personal initiative of filmmakers is what often results in a film being admitted. The result is often "an odd mix" of films that are not united by one genre. In recent years, the festival has enjoyed recent popularity abroad, mainly due to the success of South Korean cinema prompting foreign film enthusiasts' curiosity about the North. Consequentially, film submissions have increased and the selection of films has improved in quality.

The festival is one of the few North Korean functions that actively seeks connection with the outside world. Johannes Schönherr, author of North Korean Cinema: A History and a festival delegate in 2000, said "The Pyongyang International Film Festival is a big propaganda event and foreigners who attend the event become extras in the big propaganda show."

Most Japanese films and all American, Taiwanese and South Korean films are banned in North Korea. Taiwanese and South Korean films are banned because of the anti-communist nature of their countries.

Major award winners Year Golden Torch Award Best Director Best Actor Best Actress 1987 1st A Broad Bellflower Jamshid Mashayekhifor The Grandfather O Mi-ranfor A Broad Bellflower 1990 2nd Little Bird of Happiness Omar Shariffor The Puppeteer O Mi-ranfor Traces of Life 1992 3rd Nation and Destiny (Parts 1 & 2) Alireza Khamsehfor Apartment No.13 Shabana Azmifor Libaas 1994 4th The Wild Reed (Cỏ lau) (directed by Vuong duc) Abolfazl Poorarabfor The Bride Kim Kyong-aefor The Kind-Hearted Girl 1996 5th Red Cherry Guo Keyufor Red Cherry 1998 6th Myself in the Distant Future Khosrow Shakibaifor Long Lost Sisters Kim Hye-gyongfor Myself in the Distant Future 2000 7th The Lost Love Bassam Kousafor The Extras Jang Son-huifor The Earth of Love 2002 8th The Star Kim Cholfor Souls Protest Hedieh Tehranifor Party 2004 9th Gone Is the One Who Held Me Dearest in the World Wang Zhiwenfor On the Other Side of the Bridge(《芬妮的微笑》)Svetlana Khodchenkova for Bless the Woman 2006 10th Before the Fall Stéphane Brizéfor Not Here to Be Loved Jan Decleirfor Off Screen Sara Caprettifor Sternenberg 2008 11th Assembly Feng Xiaogangfor Assembly Saša Petrovićfor It's Hard to Be Nice Bita Farrahifor Mainline 2010 12th Walking to School Khosro Masumifor Wind Blows in the Meadow Fyodor Dobronravovfor A Man at Home Martina Gedeckfor Bets and Wedding Dresses 2012 13th Lessons of a Dream Nicholas Bonner, Anja Daelemans, Ryom Mi Hwafor Comrade Kim Goes Flying Daniel Brühlfor Lessons of a Dream Polina Kutepovafor Wind House 2014 14th My Beautiful Country Shi Wei(石伟)for The Ferry(我的渡口) Zhou Guangda(周光大)for The Ferry Svetlana Khodchenkovafor Vasilisa 2016 15th The Story of Our Home Oleg Asadulinfor Green Carriage Andrey Merzlikinfor Green Carriage Paek Sol-mifor The Story of Our Home 2018 16th Old Aunt(老阿姨)(North Korean title for the film meant "The Woman Behind the Man") Klim Shipenkofor Salyut Li Xuejianfor Old Aunt(老阿姨)(North Korean title for the film meant "The Woman Behind the Man") He Saifeifor Goddesses in the Flames of War 2019 17th Orange DaysAleksey Sidorov for T-34Shen Teng for PegasusE Jingwen for The New King of Comedy 2025 18th Red SilkAndrey Volgin for Red Silk the actor for Days and Nights of Confrontation(대결의 낯과 밤) Elizaveta Ischenko for Liar(Лгунья)

Pyongyang International Film Festival

Bron en licentie