List of films set in or about North Korea

This is a list of films that involve North Korea. (This listing excludes films produced by the North Korean government).

Documentaries

• Defilada (1988)
• Pyongyang Diaries (1998). A 71-minute documentary directed by Solrun Hoaas.
• Decades Apart: North Korea (2000). A 24-minute documentary (ABC Australia / Journeyman Pictures) about family reunifications of North and South Koreans in North Korea.
• Discovery Times: Children of the Secret State (2000)
• Welcome to North Korea, original title: Noord-Korea (2001) is a 50-minutes Dutch documentary directed by Raymond Feddema and Peter Tetteroo. The film won the 2001 International Emmy award for Best Documentary.^[1]
• North Korea - Shadows And Whispers (2000). A 52-minute documentary by filmmaker Kim Jung-Eun for Journeyman Pictures about a North Korean family defecting to China.
• Living Hell (2001). A 41-minute follow-up documentary to North Korea - Shadows And Whispers (2000).
• Intérieur Nord, English title(s): Day for Night in Pyongyang or Inside North Korea (2002). A 53-minute French documentary (Arte / Artline Films) by film maker David Carr-Brown about the film industry of North Korea.
• The Game of Their Lives (2002)
• Frontline/World: Suspicious Minds (2003)
• Frontline: Kim's Nuclear Gamble (2003). A 55-minute American documentary (PBS).
• Secret Nation (2003)
• Nuclear Nightmare: Understanding North Korea (2003). A 45-minute Discovery Channel documentary which has been criticized for its superficiality.^[2]
• North Korea - The Juche Era (2003). A 46-minute Bulgarian documentary distributed by Journeyman Pictures.
• North Korea: Beyond The DMZ (2003). A 60-minute documentary by J.T. Takagi & Hye Jung Park.
• Repatriation (Songhwan, 송환) (2003). A 148-minute documentary by Kim Dong-won.
• A State of Mind (2004)
• North Korea: A Day in the Life (2004)
• North Korea : the Border and the War (2004)
• Access to Evil (2004)
• Return To The Border (2005)
• Dispatches: Undercover in the Secret State (2005). Smugglers traverse the border between China and North Korea.
• Dear Pyongyang (2005)
• "Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story" (2006), BBC, PBS, Fuji TV, An 85-minute American documentary. (Read more about Megumi Yokota).
• Seoul Train (2006). Broadcast on television around the world, including on the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens. Awarded the Alfred I. duPont – Columbia University Silver Baton for excellence in broadcast journalism,^[3] and was named runner-up in the National Journalism Awards.^[4]
• 60 Minutes: The Hermit Kingdom (2006)
• Crossing the Line (VMS /Koryo Tours 2006)
• ABC News: A rare look inside North Korea (2006)
• Friends of Kim (2006). A 71-minute documentary about a group of members of the Korean Friendship Association, who travel to North Korea to demonstrate their support for the North Korean regime.
• Nordkorea: Einblicke in ein verschlossenes Land which translates to North Korea: Insights into a secretive country (2006). A 43-minute German documentary about a changing society. The film covers i.a. the following topics: the Kimchi harvest, energy shortages, the North Korean preschool system, the North Korean famine, English lessons in North Korean schools, private farm markets and restaurants, demand driven shoe production, a Buddhist temple, a Bowling alley and the International Friendship Exhibition.
• Kims Reich: Unterwegs in Nordkorea which translates to Kim's Kingdom: Travelling in North Korea (2006). A 27-minute German documentary about a Swiss tourist group. The film covers i.a. the Arirang Festival, a visit to a Buddhist temple, the demilitarized zone and the mountains of Kuwŏlsan and Myohyang-san.
• National Geographic: Inside North Korea (2007)
• Undercover in North Korea (2007)
• An American in North Korea (2007)
• North Korea: Hell on earth
• National Geographic: Don't Tell My Mother I'm In... (Episode on North Korea)
• North Korea a legacy of tension (2007)
• The Vice Guide to North Korea (2008)^[5][6][7]
• Kimjongilia (2008)
• Vítejte v KLDR! (English title: Welcome to the DPRK!) (2008) is a 71-minute Czech documentary about a Czech tourist group travelling to North Korea.
• Seven Days In North Korea (2008) is a documentary by David Pluth focusing on North Korea's history, present and culture.
• Yodok Stories (2008)
• Themepark 1984 (2009)
• Kim Jong Il's Comedy Club (2009)
• Unreported World: China/North Korea: The Great Escape (2009). North Koreans flee the border north to China.^[8]
• This World: Escaping North Korea (2010). North Koreans risk everything to reach South Korea.^[9]
• North Korean Film Madness (2010), about the North Korean film industry.^[10][11][12]
• Departures (2010)
• The Red Chapel (2010). A Danish documentary about a fictional theatre group who want to perform in North Korea. The same footage was used in the 4-part documentary Det Røde Kapel (2006) and Kim Jong Il's Comedy Club (2009).
• Dictature, paranoïa, famine : bienvenue en Corée du Nord (2010). A 68-minute French documentary (M6 / Enquête exclusive) about a French tourist group visiting North Korea.
• Wide Angle: Crossing Heaven's Border (PBS)
• Seoul Sisters (2011). A Canadian documentary about the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Similar to Seoul Train and hosted by Max Jones, a 13-year-old Felice News co-host and North Korea activist.
• North Korean Labor Camps (2011), about North Korean camps in Siberia.^[13]
• Camp 14: Total Control Zone (2012). Director Marc Wiese's portrait of inhumanity chronicles the story of Shin Dong-hyuk, who was born in a North Korean prison camp but escaped at age 23.
• The People's Crisis (2012). A documentary produced by Liberty in North Korea.^[14]
• DPRK: The Land of Whispers (2013)^[15]
• Aim High In Creation! (2013)
• Danny from North Korea (2013). A documentary produced by Liberty in North Korea.^[16]
• The Defector: Escape from North Korea, a 2013 Canadian documentary
• Vice On HBO: The Hermit Kingdom (2013) includes a segment on North Korea and also includes documentation of Dennis Rodman meeting Kim Jong-un at a basketball game and then later on for drinks and celebration^[17]
• Frontline: Secret State of North Korea (2014)^[18]
• 10 Days in North Korea (2014)
• Songs from the North (2014)
• The Propaganda Game (2015)
• Diary from North Korea , Documentaries, ORF III, Luca Faccio (2016)

Drama or fiction

• The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)
• Target Zero (1955)
• Jet Attack (1958)
• The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film) (1962)
• MASH (1970)
• The Rescue (1988)
• Provocateur (1998)
• Shiri (1999)
• Joint Security Area (2000)
• Die Another Day (2002)
• North Korean Guys (2003)
• Double Agent (Ijung gancheob) (2003)
• Love Impossible (Namnam bungnyeo) (2003)
• Silmido (2003)
• Spy Girl (2004)
• Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
• Team America: World Police (2004)
• Stealth (2005)
• Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005) (does not explicitly indicate whether it is set in North Korea)
• Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil (2006)
• Comrades in Dreams (2006)
• The Juche Idea (2008). A 62-minute fictionalized mockumentary about the Juche ideology.
• Crossing (2008) Film
• 71: Into the Fire (2010)
• Salt (2010)
• Secret Reunion (2010)
• Dance Town (2011)
• Poongsan (Pungsangae) (2011)
• Winter Butterfly (2011)
• Red Dawn (2012)
• Comrade Kim Goes Flying (2012)
• Meet in Pyongyang (2012)
• Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
• The Berlin File (2013)
• The Interview (2014)
• Diplomats (2015)^[19]
• Northern Limit Line (film) (2015)

References

1. The New York Times: Welcome to North Korea (2003 movie review)
2. The New York Times: TELEVISION REVIEW - Looking on the Bright Side About North Korea. August 6, 2003.
3. "Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism".
4. "Scripps Howard Foundation".
5. The Vice Guide to North Korea (Part 1) Vice (http://www.vice.com). Retrieved on 2013-06-13.
6. The Vice Guide to North Korea (Part 2) Vice (http://www.vice.com). Retrieved on 2013-06-13.
7. The Vice Guide to North Korea (Part 3) Vice (http://www.vice.com). Retrieved on 2013-06-13.
8. "Unreported World". Channel 4.
9. "BBC Two - This World, Escaping North Korea". BBC.
10. North Korean Film Madness (Part 1) Vice (http://www.vice.com). Retrieved on 2013-06-13.
11. North Korean Film Madness (Part 2) Vice (http://www.vice.com). Retrieved on 2013-06-13.
12. North Korean Film Madness (Part 3) Vice (http://www.vice.com). Retrieved on 2013-06-13.
13. North Korean Labor Camps (Full Length) Vice (http://www.vice.com). Retrieved on 2013-06-13.
14. "The People's Crisis". Oct 29, 2011.
15. "DPRK: the Land of Whispers". Etherium Sky - Film, TV, Video & Media Production in Hanoi & Vietnam.
16. "Danny from North Korea". Apr 15, 2013.
17. "Vice on HBO: The Hermit Kingdom". June 14, 2013.
18. Frontline: Secret State of North Korea PBS (www.pbs.org). Retrieved on 2015-05-22.
19. "Dennis Rodman's North Korea Visit Inspires Comedy Movie 'Diplomats'". Rolling Stone.