<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=3 FAMILY="SERIF" FACE="Times New Roman" LANG="0">I hope it's not too late to continue this thread from a month ago.<BR>
(No postings have reached me since mid-January, seemingly<BR>
because of a problem at AOL. Caveat lector!)<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
1. Korea Film Export and Import Corporation published a<BR>
'Feature Film List' catalogue in September 1998. <BR>
<BR>
I assume this is their latest, as it was given me in October<BR>
last year by Ms Ryom Mi Hwa of KFEIC - along with Kim Jong Il's <BR>
<I>On The Art Of The Cinema </I>(FLPH, 1989; 332pp; originally <BR>
dating from 1973, allegedly).<BR>
<BR>
The catalogue, in Korean and English, lists no fewer than 259<BR>
different films - indeed more, as several are multi-part (eg<BR>
<I>The Nation and Destiny</I>). No dates are given; just the number<BR>
of reels (from 7 to 385!), screen ratio, and footage length.<BR>
But I think they are in chronological order, spanning many years.<BR>
<BR>
"Theme" is also given, in the following categories. (This is <BR>
all they say, and these are the only categories.)<BR>
<BR>
<B>historic<BR>
war<BR>
modern<BR>
classic<BR>
espionage<BR>
anti-esp. (sic)<BR>
classic (action)<BR>
war (action)<BR>
military</B><BR>
<BR>
KFEIC's fax numbers are +8502 3814410 and 4416.<BR>
There may be more info online at www.dprkorea.com,<BR>
but it seems to be down at the moment.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
2. Even so, this catalogue by no means exhausts the <BR>
full range of North Korean film-making. The DPRK <BR>
also has a thriving <B>cartoon</B> industry, as <BR>
recently featured in Forbes magazine:<BR>
http://www.forbes.com/global/2003/0303/014.html<BR>
See also:<BR>
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/DK13Dg03.html<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
3. But <I>Pulgasari</I> is not on offer. Johannes Schoenherr,<BR>
in his book <I>Trashfilm Roadshows </I>(Headpress, 2002;<BR>
www.headpress.com), describes his unsuccessful efforts<BR>
to get it included in the batch of DPRK feature fims<BR>
which he toured in Europe in 2000. <BR>
<BR>
This book (whose other chapters are not for the squeamish)<BR>
also has much shrewd if irreverent observation on the <BR>
North Korean film scene, based on two visits to Pyongyang.<BR>
I review it in a forthcoming Asia Times Online column.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
4. Hyangjin Lee's <I>Contemporary Korean Cinema<BR>
</I>(Manchester Univ Press, 2001) offers an academic<BR>
analytical treatment of both NK and SK cimema.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
5. On Shin Sang-ok and Choe Eun-hui:<BR>
Mike Thomson, a BBC reporter who was recently in<BR>
both Pyongyang and Seoul, has done a longish interview. See:<BR>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2821221.stm<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
6. Finally, listmembers in the US may be able to pick up<BR>
the KFEIC catalogue, as I did, at a showing of <I>The Game <BR>
of Their Lives. </I>This fine British-made film, about the giant-killing <BR>
DPRK soccer team of the 1966 World Cup, is currently on tour<BR>
in the US, with a few west coast showings still to come. See:<BR>
http://www.thegameoftheirlives.com/pressreleasefeb18.htm<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
7. PS! http://www.dprkfilm.com looks great. <BR>
But you need ROK ID to access the site, it seems.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Cheers,<BR>
Aidan FC<BR>
<BR>
AIDAN FOSTER-CARTER<BR>
Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds University<BR>
17 Birklands Road, Shipley, West Yorkshire, BD18 3BY, UK<BR>
tel: +44(0) 1274 588586 mobile: +44(0) 7970 741307 <BR>
fax: +44(0) 1274 773663 Email: afostercarter@aol.com <BR>
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