Cinema of North Korea

[3] SEK has done work on such productions as Mondo TV's animated series Pocahontas[4] and King Lion Simba[5][6] and the films Light Years and Empress Chung.

[7] North Korean leader Kim Il Sung believed[1] in Lenin's maxim: "Cinema is the most important of all arts.

"[8] Accordingly, since the country's division, North Korean films have often been used as vehicles for instilling government ideology into the people.

[9] The latter film comes from a novel telling the story of a woman farmer who becomes a national heroine by fighting the Japanese.

This theme can be seen reflected in titles of feature films like A Family of Workers, A Flowering Village, The Spinner, When Apples Are Picked.

[12] After the division of Korea following the defeat of the Japanese Empire in World War II, filmmakers in the North and the South sought to produce the first Korean film after the liberation in their respective half of the peninsula.

[16] The ideology-heavy nature of North Korean cinema during the 1970s can be seen in titles such as The People Sing of the Fatherly Leader and The Rays of Juche Spread All Over the World.

Unsung Heroes, a 20-part spy film about the Korean War, was released between 1978 and 1981; it achieved notice outside of North Korea two decades later mainly because United States Forces Korea defector Charles Robert Jenkins played a role as a villain and the husband of one of the main characters.

North Korean animation produced for domestic consumption is reportedly less politically dogmatic during this period, resulting in a large adult audience.

[21] At least one international co-production has been filmed in North Korea, Ten Zan - Ultimate Mission, directed by Italian director Ferdinando Baldi and starring American Frank Zagarino.

Nation and Destiny (Korean: 민족과 운명; MR: Minjokgwa ummyeong) is a 62-part series of movies produced from 1992 to 2002, on Korean subjects and people like General Choi Duk Shin (parts 1-4) and composer Yun I-sang (parts 5-8).

In a sign of thawing relations, the animated film, Empress Chung (2005), is a co-production of South and North Korea.