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Films from the North: Part II
May 7-28, 2009
Every Thursday in May

In a follow-up on its first presentation of North Korean cinema in 2008, The Korea Society is proud to announce the second installment in its Films from the North series. The four films—Traces of Life, The Tale of Chun Hyang, Wŏlmi Island and The Flower Girl—convey a view of the world that epitomizes the ideological underpinnings of the North Korean state. Within this context, the tales—of duty,self–sacrifice, imperialist cruelty and heroism in battle—are told with genuine feeling and artistry.

Tickets for Traces of Life are available for $10 (members) or $15 (nonmembers).
Tickets for each additional screening are available for $5 (members) or $10 (nonmembers).
A package of tickets for all four screenings is available for $20 (members) or $35 (nonmembers).

Screening every Thursday evening in May (May 7-28), all films will be shown at The Korea Society
950 Third Avenue @ 57th Street, 8th Floor
(Building entrance on SW corner of Third Avenue and 57th Street)

SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 7
6:00 PM
Series' Opening Reception
tracesoflife.jpgIntroduction by Suk-Young Kim, professor of theatre at the University of California Santa Barbara

6:40 PM
Traces of Life 
Directed by Jo Kyong-sun
Starring O Mi-ran, Paek Yong-hui and Ri Won-bok
128 minutes (1989)

This is the story about a hardworking farmer whose love for her country helps her transcend her grief over her late husband and raise her collective farm's rice production to unprecedented levels. It exemplifies the North Korean "hidden heroes" genre: a type of film made mostly during the 1980s and 1990s, which features simple country people bringing life to a barren land. 


taleofchunhyang.jpgThursday, May 14 
6:30 PM
The Tale of Chun Hyang
Directed by Yu Won-jun, Yun Ryong-gyu
Starring Choe Sun-gyu, Kim Yong-hwan and Kim Yong-suk
148 minutes (1980)

The Tale of Chun Hyang is a socialist retelling of Chunhyangjŏn, a Korean folktale about the romance and intrigue that blossom between a kisaeng's daughter and a magistrate's son. While retaining the story's original Confucian ethic, The Tale of Chun Hyang transforms the story's heroine from a cultured court entertainer to a tough, working-class woman.


wolmiisland.jpgThursday, May 21
6:30 PM
Wŏlmi Island 
Directed by Cho Kyong-sun
Starring Cho Kyong-sun, Choe Chang-su, Choe Tae-hyon and Yun Su-gyong
92 minutes (1982)

In this gripping and imaginative war movie a small troop of North Korean soldiers, armed with just four guns between them, defeats General Douglas MacArthur and 50,000 American soldiers atInch'on.



flowergirl.jpgThursday, May 28
6:30 PM
The Flower Girl 
Directed by Choi Ik-gyu and Pak Hak
Starring Hong Yong-hee, Pak Hwa-son, Ryu Hu-nam and Kim Ryong-rin
120 minutes (1972)

Adapted from an anti-imperialist opera from the 1930s, The Flower Girl is a tragic story of a family cruelly exploited by the Japanese colonial authorities and a clarion call for the Korean people to fight for the socialist revolution. The film was so popular when it was released domestically that Hong Yong–hee's picture was printed on North Korean currency.

 
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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...)