N. Korea film hunts buyers at Cannes

Korea Herald
5/23/2007

North Korea’s first film bidding for buyers at the Cannes market provides a rare look at the fortress nation seen through teenage eyes, according to a news report.

“The Schoolgirl’s Diary,” one of only two films produced from Pyongyang last year, chronicles a girl’s life through her school years, grappling with peer pressure and family problems much the same as those the world over, AFP reported.

“It is not pure propaganda,” said James Velaise of Pretty Pictures, who snapped up distribution rights at the Pyongyang filmfest last September, a two-yearly event barred to US movie types but open to a handful of European and Communist nations.

“It’s the first time North Korea has been shown on the market,” Velaise told AFP. The film, which reportedly saw eight million admissions at home last year, or roughly one out of three North Koreans,will be released in France at the end of the year.

The movie, described by trade magazine Variety as “well-lensed,” debuts unexpectedly with schoolgirls in uniform carrying Mickey Mouse bags.

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