Home Arts Film Films from the North
E-mail
Films from the North
ImageClassic Movie Night: Special Feature Series

May 12-14, 2008

South Korean films continue to set box-office records across Asia and win laurels in international film festivals. Meanwhile, little attention is given to the cinema from the other half of the peninsula. From May 12 to 14, 2008, three films from the DPRK’s canon will be screened as a special presentation in the Classic Movie Night series.


The films—Hong Gil Dong, Bellflower, and My Look in the Distant Future—have been rarely seen outside the former Eastern Bloc. Cinema in the DPRK is an original expression of social realism and a primary vehicle for conveying state ideology. Even so, the tales—of peasant farmers struggling against feudal lords, anti-Japanese resistance fighters, and ordinary citizens loyal to their hometowns—are also told with genuine artistry. Click to buy tickets.

Tickets are available for $7 (members), $12 (non-members), and $30 (for all three movies, $18 for members). For more information, please contact Yuni Cho at (212) 759-7525, ext.323 or email . All films are presented with English subtitles and will be screened at The Korea Society (950 Third Avenue, Eighth Floor, New York City; building entrance on the SW corner of 57th Street and Third Avenue).

SCHEDULE

Monday, May 12

6:00 PM         Opening Reception for the Series
                     Introduction by Professor Charles Armstrong, Director, Center for Korean Research, Columbia University

Image 6:30 PM        Hong Kil Dong (1986) buy tickets
                     Directed by Kim Kil-in 
                     Starring Ri Yong-ho, Ri Gwon and Ri Ri-youn 
                     104 minutes

Mixing Hong Kong-style kung fu with a socialist ethos, the Robin Hood-esque Hong Kil Dong took the Bulgarian box office by storm in the late 1980s. Forever barred from privilege, the eponymous protagonist-the illegitimate son of a nobleman-wanders Korea helping farmers fend off feudal exploitation. But when Korea is invaded by Japanese ninja, he must unite with his perennial enemies to defend the fatherland.
 

Tuesday, May 13

Image 6:30 PM          Bellflower (1987) buy tickets
                       Directed by Jo Kyong-sun
                       Starring O Mi-ran, Kim Ryong-jo, Song Yon-ok and Kim Hye-son 
                       83 minutes

As the most popular North Korean production of the 1980s, Bellflower earned lead actress O Mi-ran the honorific title "People's Actor." O's character, Jin Song Rim, strives to turn her humble mountain hometown of Pyokgye-ri into a model socialist village. Released when the economic foundations of the DPRK were starting to tremble, Bellflower praises the spirit of workers who accept their roles and work for the betterment of the nation.


Wednesday, May 14

Image6:30 PM        My Look in the Distant Future (1997) buy tickets
                      Directed by Jang In-hak
                      Starring Kim Myong-mun and Kim Hye-gyong
                      102 minutes


Reeling from famine in the mid-1990s, North Korea mobilized tens of thousands of urban residents for emergency agricultural work in the countryside. My Look in the Distant Future depicts that dire period with an optimistic gloss. Sent to the countryside, a young, urban loafer finds inspiration in a stalwart village leader and decides to become a model worker.

Classic Movie Night continues to the themes of critical realism in Korea on Thursday, May 15 with The Ball Shot by a Midget.
 
Major Supporters
  • The Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate ContributorsThe Korea Society is supported by these and other Corporate Contributors
Visiting Hours
Mondays - Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
The Korea Society
950 Third Ave, 8th Flr,
New York, NY 10022
(212) 759-7525
Fax: (212) 759-7530
The Korea Society is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization that is dedicated solely to the promotion of greater awareness, understanding and cooperation between the people of the United States and Korea. (more...)