CINA

본문

Yanks not invited
North Korean fest bars H'wood pix

By DEREK ELLEY

Few if any American film executives have managed to penetrate North
Korea's Pyongyang Film Festival, one of the world's most mysterious
events. Hollywood reps and films have been barred from the fest since it
began in 1987 - and that policy was unchanged for the 10th edition,
which shuttered Friday, despite this year's theme of "Peace,
Independence and Friendship."
So where does the world's most separatist country base its fest's
120-plus foreign guests a collection of official delegates, helmers,
producers, buyers (mostly from France and Germany) and Asiaphile critics
- who make it through the country's tight security? The 47-story
Yanggakdo Hotel on an island in the Taedong River that flows through
Pyongyang, well away from locals.
And, perhaps fittingly for a fest held in a totalitarian state, German
drama "Napola," set in a Nazi Youth training school, won film honors on
Friday evening.
Pic was chosen by a five-member feature jury, which included Russia's
Roza Film Studio director Galina Ebtysenko; German producer and head of
Bioskop Film, Hans Eberhard Junkersdorf; and Beijing Film Studio
director Wang Haowei.

Fest's main venue was the five-plex Pyongyang Intl. Cinema House next to
the hotel, although bigger movies, like German opener "The Miracle of
Bern," U.K. comedies "Bean" and "Nanny McPhee" and French drama "Cache,"
played downtown in the 3,000-seat People's Palace of Culture to SRO
auds. They were among the 72 titles in the program of old and new pics,
including 42 features, plus docus, shorts and toons, during the 10-day
fest. Aside from the obvious no-show of films from South Korea, the most
notable absence was U.S. pics, which are available in North Korea only
to university students and third-year acting students at the Pyongyang
Drama & Movie Institute. Young people in the capital are nevertheless
knowledgeable about Western stars and, as in South Korea and other Asian
countries, hang out at "video-bang" or KTV joints, where pics are
screened in individual rooms similar to karaoke booths.

Main focus for many of the guests was North Korean fare. However, only
two new features, both released locally in August, played at the fest:
Jang In-hak's "The Schoolgirl's Diary" and Phyo Kwang's anti-Japanese
period actioner "Pyongyang Nalpharam." Though local feature production
was down to two this year, plans are afoot to beef that up to five to
seven features next year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, a well-known movie buff with a private
collection reputed to contain 20,000 titles, intends to upgrade the
industry's tech aspects, with $3 million recently invested in new
equipment.
With all actors and filmmakers on monthly salaries from the three
state-owned movie studios, budgets are hard to calculate in Western
terms, although an average movie costs around $100,000. Country has some
500 screens.
Main foreign markets for the movies are China, Vietnam, Iran and India,
with toons popular items.
Dealmaking remains difficult as many countries block North Korean bank
accounts overseas, but officials at Korea Film Export & Import Corp.
seem eager to do biz.

Meanwhile, European movies came away the big winners at the fest.
Apart from "Napola," small-scale Gallic drama "Not Here to Be Loved"
drew the director nod for Stephane Brize, and "Cache," a French-language
production helmed and written by Austria's Michael Haneke, took script
honors.
Actor prize went to Mathias Gnadinger in Swiss pic "Sternenberg," about
a 68-year-old primary school pupil in a village school about to be closed.
Other feature film awards went to pics from Russia, China and India,
with Indian painter-cum-filmmaker M.F. Husain's "Meenaxi: Tale of 3
Cities" winning lensing and art direction, both by Bollywood veterans.
For the past nine editions, the fest has been biannual. It could become
an annual event in the future, though no decision has been made.

Winners of the Pyongyang Film Festival:

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
Best Film: "Napola" (dir. Dennis Gansel, Germany)
Best Director: Stephane Brize ("Not Here To Be Loved," France)
Best Script: Michael Haneke ("Hidden," France-Austria-Germany-Italy)
Best Photography: Santosh Sivan ("Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities," India)
Best Actor: Mathias Gnaedinger ("Sternenberg," Switzerland)
Best Art Director: Sharmishta Roy ("Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities")
Best Music: "Haul" (Russia)
Best Technical Prize: "Tai Hang Mountain" (Wei Lian, Shen Dong, Chen
Jian, China)
Special Jury Prize: "Children & Grandchildren of the Soldiers" (Minh
Chuyen, Vietnam)

TV PROGRAM COMPETITION
Best Director: Lisa Munthe, Helen Ahlsson ("The Armwrestler from
Solitude," Sweden)
Best Script: Hala Lotfy ("About Feeling Cold," Egypt)
Best Photography: Laurent Chalet, Jerome Maison ("The Emperor's
Journey," France)
Best Art Direction: "Clever Racoon Dog, Pt. 54" (Yun Yong-gil, N. Korea,
animated)
Best Music: Emile Simon ("The Emperor's Journey")

OTHER AWARDS
Festival Management Award (shared): "Public Relations" (Samir Zikra,
Syria), "Warm Spring" (Wulan Tana, China)

PS:

KCNA "reported" following last Friday:

Pyongyang Int'l Film Festival Closes

The 10th Pyongyang International Film Festival which opened on Sept. 13 closed on Friday with due ceremony at the People's Palace of Culture. Present at the closing ceremony were Yang Hyong Sop, vice-president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, Ro Tu Chol, vice-premier of the Cabinet, Kang Nung Su, minister of Culture who is chairman of the Organizing Committee of the festival, Pang Chol Gap, chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee, officials concerned, creators and artistes in the field of movie industry and working people in the city.
 
    Also present there were delegations and delegates from various countries which participated in the festival.
    Diplomatic envoys of various countries and staff members of foreign embassies here were present there on invitation.
    At the closing ceremony the jury announced the results of the contest and prizes were awarded to successful films.
    A letter to leader Kim Jong Il from the participants in the film festival was adopted at the ceremony.
 
    Kang Nung Su in a closing address said that the festival has come to a successful close thanks to the sincere efforts of the participants in the festival and progressive moviemen.
 
    He pointed to the fact that while staying in the DPRK the participants in the festival expressed support to the Korean people in their just cause of energetically pushing ahead with the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation. He declared the festival closed, noting that the Korean people would as ever make positive efforts to steadily develop the Pyongyang International Film Festival. The festival provided progressive moviemen from various parts of the world with a meaningful occasion to swap the successes and experience gained by them in the creation of cinematic art and boost the exchange and cooperation among them. According to the results announced by the jury, German full-length feature film "Napola" received the best prize.
 
    Among the full-length feature films that entered the contest French film "Not Here to Be Loved" received the prize of production, French film "Hidden" the prize of scenario, Indian film "Tale of 3 Cities" the prize of shooting, the Belgian actor who played the part of a hero in the Belgian film "Off Screen" the prize of male star acting, the Swiss actress who played the part of a female teacher in Swiss film "Sternenberg" the prize of female star acting, the Indian film "Tale of 3 Cities" received the art prize, Russian film "The Vesyegonsk's She-Wolf" was awarded the music prize and Chinese film "Taihang Mountain" the technical prize.
 
    Among the TV program films that entered competition Swedish documentary "The Armwrestler from Solitude" received the prize of production, Egyptian documentary "About Feeling Cold" got the prize for the framework of story, the French documentary "The Emperor's Journey" the prize of shooting, a sequel to Korean children's film "The Clever Racoon Dog" was awarded the art prize and the French documentary "The Emperor's Journey" also got the music prize.
 
    Both Syrian film "Public Relations" and Chinese film "Warm Spring" won the prize of the Festival Organizing Committee and the Vietnamese documentary film "Children and Grandchildren of the Soldiers" was awarded the prize of the festival international jury.