An Exclusive Interview with Nicholas Bonner
Photographs by Kim Gwang Song
Interview by Mark Edward Harris
Nicholas Bonner, owner of Koryo Tours & Studio, has been running tours and cultural exchanges with North Korea since 1993, in addition to producing and directing films focused on the country. Amongst various art projects, Bonner co-curated the DPRK inclusion for the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane in 2010 and co-curated the North Korea content for the Korea pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale which was awarded the Golden Lion. His books include “Made in North Korea” and “Printed in North Korea” published by Phaidon.
Bonner works with a number of emerging artists in North Korea by providing them with a platform to experiment outside of their everyday restrictions. His ongoing projects include the creation of North Korea’s first children’s international film festival and setting up a museum in Tuscany for his company’s significant North Korean socialist realism art collection.
“The task of socialist film art is to reflect our socialist reality; the films made by our actors are important contributions to our country. I wanted to capture the feeling of the energy and dedication that goes into shooting a film. The actors become the characters they portray so they can project this feeling to the public.”
-Kim Gwang Song, photograpgher
The pandemic that closed the borders of most countries around the globe further isolated those living north of the 38th parallel that separates the Korean Peninsula.
Yet life went on in the country referred to as the Hermit Kingdom during the Covid lockdown, including photographer Kim Gwang Song’s documentation of the DPRK’s most famous actors. The photo sessions that took place between 2021 and 2022 at the Korean Film Studio in Pyongyang had the thespians reprise their most famous roles for the still camera. This was the first time a North Korean photographer had been commissioned for an art project and the first time North Korea had allowed their film stars to be shown beyond their borders.
Kim hopes that the resulting images, when shown outside his native North Korea, will result in “people becoming more interested in our films and our film industry.
Film is a great tool for us to understand other nations for peace, independence, and friendship.” These photos portray serious craftsmen and craftswomen trying to bring scripts to life in ways similar to their brethren from Hollywood to Bollywood. British actor Michael Palin, who visited North Korea, stated that movies made in the reclusive country show us a part of “North Korean life that we see too rarely, if at all.”
The portrait series was made possible by British director and producer Nicholas Bonner, who first visited North Korea in 1993 and soon after set up Koryo Tours & Studio in Beijing, a company specializing in tourism and cultural projects in China’s reclusive neighbor. Bonner’s film credits include “The Game of Their Lives” (2002), which told the forgotten story of North Korea’s 1966 World Cup soccer team, “A State of Mind” (2004) about a group of girls preparing for the country’s famed Mass Games; “Crossing the Line” (2006) about an American living in Pyongyang since defecting from the US Army in the 1960s; and “Comrade Kim Goes Flying” (2013), the first North Korean film to be screened for the public in South Korea at Busan International Film Festival.
“North Korean films are guaranteed an audience ready to turn up to see whatever movie is released as the films are loaded with political content, and it is in the government’s interest to get these movies seen by all citizens.”
-Nicholas Bonner
An Exclusive Interview with Nicholas Bonner
Photographs by Kim Gwang Song
Interview by Mark Edward Harris
“I have watched films in several of Pyongyang’s cinemas, and the atmosphere of “going to the movies” is the same as can be experienced in any country. It’s a chance for escapism from the monotony of day-to-day life and to get some entertainment.”
-Nicholas Bonner
The pandemic that closed the borders of most countries around the globe further isolated those living north of the 38th parallel that separates the Korean Peninsula.
Yet life went on in the country referred to as the Hermit Kingdom during the Covid lockdown, including photographer Kim Gwang Song’s documentation of the DPRK’s most famous actors. The photo sessions that took place between 2021 and 2022 at the Korean Film Studio in Pyongyang had the thespians reprise their most famous roles for the still camera. This was the first time a North Korean photographer had been commissioned for an art project and the first time North Korea had allowed their film stars to be shown beyond their borders.
Kim hopes that the resulting images, when shown outside his native North Korea, will result in “people becoming more interested in our films and our film industry.
Film is a great tool for us to understand other nations for peace, independence, and friendship.” These photos portray serious craftsmen and craftswomen trying to bring scripts to life in ways similar to their brethren from Hollywood to Bollywood. British actor Michael Palin, who visited North Korea, stated that movies made in the reclusive country show us a part of “North Korean life that we see too rarely, if at all.”
The portrait series was made possible by British director and producer Nicholas Bonner, who first visited North Korea in 1993 and soon after set up Koryo Tours & Studio in Beijing, a company specializing in tourism and cultural projects in China’s reclusive neighbor. Bonner’s film credits include “The Game of Their Lives” (2002), which told the forgotten story of North Korea’s 1966 World Cup soccer team, “A State of Mind” (2004) about a group of girls preparing for the country’s famed Mass Games; “Crossing the Line” (2006) about an American living in Pyongyang since defecting from the US Army in the 1960s; and “Comrade Kim Goes Flying” (2013), the first North Korean film to be screened for the public in South Korea at Busan International Film Festival.
“The script has to be approved from the very top, but not all films that are completed are released, as final approval has to come from the leader of the country.”
-Nicholas Bonner
Mark Edward Harris: What was the idea behind the North Korean film stars photo project, and how did it come about?
Nicholas Bonner: I have been involved in making documentaries in North Korea since 1995 and, for several years, have helped bring foreign films into North Korea for the Pyongyang International Film Festival, one of the few times a North Korean living in Pyongyang can get a glimpse of the outside world. When I say “international,” the caveat should be added that there are no films from South Korea, Japan, or the USA.
North Korean films are guaranteed an audience ready to turn up to see whatever movie is released as the films are loaded with political content, and it is in the government’s interest to get these movies seen by all citizens. All cities and towns have cinemas and rural areas are visited by travelling projectionists who arrange screenings in cooperative farms across the nation. I have watched films in several of Pyongyang’s cinemas, and the atmosphere of “going to the movies” is the same as can be experienced in any country. It’s a chance for escapism from the monotony of day-to-day life and to get some entertainment.
The difference is that North Koreans have to take part of the day off to watch a film, as the majority of screenings are during the daytime, and the only movies available are domestically produced.
Korfilm, the state-run film production company, produces an annual wall calendar featuring their film stars in a range of kitsch set-up shots from heroic warrior stances to 1980s fashion catalog-style poses. During the 2005 shoot of our documentary “Crossing the Line,” I asked if it would be possible to arrange a portrait shoot of the actors by a well-known photographer from the United States. I was told by the director of Korfilm that “in our country, film is not a commodity” and that they were not prepared to release their prized stars to the whims of a Western photographer. I changed tactics and, in 2019, suggested that Kim Gwang Song, a professional North Korean photographer who we had worked with for our feature film stills, could conduct the shoot. Again, the answer was no because of the authorities’ concern that they would have no control over how the resulting images would be exhibited outside of North Korea. Once again, I admitted defeat.
M. E. H.: How were you able to change that pretty firm no into a yes?
N. B.: In the spring of 2021, I received a phone call from our Korean producer, whom I have worked with on all of our films since 2001. She said she had “received permission to mobilize the actors for your photo project, and we will send you the photographs digitally.”
Even more surprising was the fact that she mentioned a number of the actors knew us and were taking time off to be a part of the project. Throughout the year, the files arrived, including three of the most famous actors in the country – Hong Yong Hi, who starred in “A Flower Girl” (1972); Kim Sun from “Kite Flying in the Sky” (2008) and Kim Ryon Hwa whose films include “We Live Here” (1999) as well as other performers and directors from different studios. This was a gesture of friendship and trust between filmmakers from very different backgrounds and cultures.
M. E. H.: What’s the history of cinema in North Korea?
N. B.: North Korean film history is one of weaving in propaganda and praising the leaders, the party, and the socialist way of life into a storyline. No matter what genre, whether it be comedy, military, family drama, historical, or romance, politics will find the appropriate place to come to the fore.
The first feature film produced in North Korea was “My Home Village” (1949), made at the newly established Pyongyang Film Studios. Since then, this production facility has been greatly expanded. In addition, there are now separate film studios for documentary filmmaking, animation, and even a military film studio owned and operated by the Korean People’s Army. There are some classic films that are very watchable, and for a view into the film history over the years, I would recommend a starter pack of “A Flower Girl” (1972), a drama where things go from bad to worse; “Hong Kil Dong” (1986), the coolest martial arts film in North Korean history with the actor Li Yong Ho being the communist version of Bruce Lee; and “Centre Forward” (1978), about a footballer who is not part of team play and learns the error of his ways.
M. E. H.: In addition to your documentaries on North Korea, you co-directed a fictional film, “Comrade Kim Goes Flying” (2013), a fascinating comedy of a coalminer wanting to become an acrobat. Is the DPRK still focused on film production over television?
N. B.: In recent years, film production has slowed, with a shift towards the shooting of television series. In the last five years, directors and producers have been retrained in more contemporary styles, emphasizing films and TV shows being shot for entertainment. We are likely to see big changes when the country opens up again. It has remained closed to foreigners since January 2020 due initially to protect against COVID-19. The country was already known as the most closed country in the world even when it was “open.”
M. E. H.: How can North Koreans access films made outside of their country?
N. B.: Usually, the only opportunity for screening foreign films is if you are a student studying foreign languages in Pyongyang or at the annual Pyongyang International Film Festival.
In 2004, we screened the comedy-drama “Bend It Like Beckham” (2002) at the Film Festival. The film was a smash hit and was seen by a total of 12,000 Pyongyang locals. In 2010, working together with the British Embassy in Pyongyang, we managed to get the film broadcast throughout the country. It marked 10 years of UK-DPRK diplomatic relations and became the first, and to date, the only, European feature film to be broadcast in the country. North Korean friends reported the streets were quiet as everyone was at home watching their televisions.
Quoting Peter Hughes, British Ambassador to the DPRK: “This would be the first occasion in which a film made in the West, portraying contemporary life outside this country, had been broadcast nation-wide in the DPRK. The effect this could have on the population will be immeasurable in terms of their knowledge of conditions outside of their country, and their understanding of modern western life.”
M. E. H.: Tell us about the photographer who shot the project, which gives us a glimpse into his country’s film industry.
N. B.: Kim Gwang Song shot various medium format stills for our documentary “A State of Mind” (2004) and also for our feature film “Comrade Kim Goes Flying.” He graduated from the Pyongyang University of Fine Arts in 2002 and has since worked as a photographer at Korfilm. The cameras he uses are a Canon 5D and Nikon D810.
We gave a brief to Kim, and then it was up to him; he would in effect, become the director. In a phone call with our colleague in Pyongyang, I was told he was nervous as he was shooting the country’s revered film stars, but he also had a problem photographing young actors who had not been photographed before, which was making them nervous and somewhat difficult to shoot.
We have regular email access to Korfilm in Pyongyang, so we asked Kim to send us his thoughts on the project as he was progressing with it. He wrote, “The task of socialist film art is to reflect our socialist reality; the films made by our actors are important contributions to our country. I wanted to capture the feeling of the energy and dedication that goes into shooting a film. The actors become the characters they portray so they can project this feeling to the public. Putting actors back in the costumes from the films they shot years before brought them happy memories.”
M. E. H.: Who writes the scripts for North Korean films? Do they have to be approved by the government?
N. B.: There are scriptwriters assigned to each of the three film studios. They may bring in writers whose books they want to adapt, but it usually is all in-house. The script has to be approved from the very top, but not all films that are completed are released, as final approval has to come from the leader of the country. Additionally, certain films fall out of favor and are withdrawn from screenings and broadcasts. Whilst we were in post-production with “Comrade Kim Goes Flying,” a film on the USS Pueblo was completed but failed to be released because it was not deemed to be of sufficient merit.
M. E. H.: Tell us about the film studio where the shoots took place.
N. B.: Kim Gwang Song arranged the shoot at the Korean Art Film Studio, commonly known as Pyongyang Film Studio. The featured performers were taken to the film studio and reunited with cinematographers and directors who had worked on some of their most famous and well-regarded films.
The studio is located in a northern suburb of Pyongyang and was founded in 1947, with over 750,00 square meters of space designated for filmmaking.
There are indoor studios and sound stages, but the most interesting are the exterior permanent film lots consisting of a traditional Korean village, historic Korean buildings, a 1930s Chinese “Manchuria” street, a Japanese street, a Korean street from the period before liberation, a South Korean street complete with advertising for morally dubious products and services and a European village.
There is also a railway station and various sets in wooded areas to represent the anti-Japanese struggle (1910-45) in the north of the country. As well as functioning as a film studio to produce Korean movies, it is also open as an attraction for local and international tourists.
M. E. H.: In a way, it’s like Universal Studios in Hollywood.
N. B.: It’s a universal truth that virtually everyone loves the movies.
ABOUT | Nicholas Bonner
Nicholas Bonner, owner of Koryo Tours & Studio, has been running tours and cultural exchanges with North Korea since 1993, in addition to producing and directing films focused on the country. Amongst various art projects, Bonner co-curated the DPRK inclusion for the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane in 2010 and co-curated the North Korea content for the Korea pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale which was awarded the Golden Lion.
His books include “Made in North Korea” and “Printed in North Korea” published by Phaidon.
Bonner works with a number of emerging artists in North Korea by providing them with a platform to experiment outside of their everyday restrictions. His ongoing projects include the creation of North Korea’s first children’s international film festival and setting up a museum in Tuscany for his company’s significant North Korean socialist realism art collection.
See the full interview article in Lens Magazine Issue #108
