Saturday, June 15, 2013

Late Night Ignoring Asia: Kim Jong-Ill's 20,000 Movies

Kim Jong-il had 20,000 Hollywood DVDs – but then North Korea loves cinema, a fascinating new documentary reveals

Anna Broinowski, an Australian documentary-maker, was given unprecedented access to some of North Korea's top secrets but, for once, it wasn't to do with politics or nuclear weapons. Instead, she went to uncover the fascinating, if somewhat unusual, world of North Korean cinema, controlled for so many years by the nation's “Creative Commander”, former Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il. The documentary Aim High In Creation, currently in post-production, began as Broinowksi's mission to create a short film following the rules laid out in the former North Korean leader's treatise Manifesto on the Art of the Cinema.


“A friend brought back a copy from North Korea as a present. It was this perfect, utilitarian, bound, workmanlike volume,” says Broinowski , who is best known for the investigative documentary Forbidden Lie$.



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