Documentaries[edit]

Defilada (1988)
Travelogue (1996). The first travel film Andy Kershaw with Koryo Tours .
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).
Intrieur 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, ??) (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 Kuwolsan 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)
Vtejte 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]
Hana, dul, sed (2010),[9] an Austrian documentary about North Korea's national
women's soccer team.
This World: Escaping North Korea (2010). North Koreans risk everything to reach
South Korea.[10]
North Korean Film Madness (2010), about the North Korean film industry.[11][12][13]
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 Rde Kapel (2006) and Kim Jong Il's Comedy Club (2009).
Dictature, paranoa, famine : bienvenue en Core du Nord (2010). A 68-minute French
documentary (M6 / Enqute 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.[14]
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.[15]
DPRK: The Land of Whispers (2013)[16]
Aim High In Creation! (2013)
Danny from North Korea (2013). A documentary produced by Liberty in North Korea.
[17]
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[18]
Panorama: Educating North Korea (2014),[19] about Pyongyang University of Science
and Technology, North Korea's first privately funded university.
Frontline: Secret State of North Korea (2014)[20]
10 Days in North Korea (2014)
Songs from the North (2014)
Enter Pyongyang (2014) Rob Whitworth and Koryo Studio
North Korea, the great illusion (2015),[21] a 52-minute French documentary, which
includes footage from a newly built Ski resort as well as interviews with
defectors.
The Propaganda Game (2015)
Under the Sun (2015)
3DPRK (2014) Matt Hulse, Vicky Mohieddeen Koryo Studio
Diary from North Korea , Documentaries, ORF III, Luca Faccio (2016)
Cash For Kim: North Koreans Are Working to Their Death in Poland (2016)[22] reports
about North Korean forced laborers in working in shipyards, on construction sites
as well as on farms in Poland.
Meine Brder und Schwestern im Norden (2016),[23] a German documentary by Sung-
Hyung Cho (a film maker born in South Korea).
MRS. B. A North Korean woman (2016), [24] a Korean/French documentary by Jro Yun