Past screening

Under the Sun

Directed by: Vitaly Mansky
Runtime: 1hr 46min Year: 2015
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Details

Directed by: Vitaly Mansky
Runtime: 1hr 46min Year: 2015
Country: Russian Federation, Latvia, Germany, Czech Republic, North Korea
Last Screened: Wed 28th Sep 2016

After years of negotiation acclaimed Russian director Vitaly Mansky was invited by the North Korean government to make a film about one girl and her family in the year she prepares to join the Children's Union, on the 'Day of the Shining Star' (Kim Jong-Il's birthday).

“Startling and chilling.” — The New York Times

“My father says that Korea is the most beautiful country…” says eight-year-old Zin-mi. And so it might seem as Mansky films her in joyous, patriotic school pageants and in dance class, or with her parents, eating delicious food in their picturesque apartment.

But the government handlers supervising the production did not realise that Mansky kept filming even after they had shouted “Cut.” Under The Sun is the jaw-dropping result, described by The Hollywood Reporter as a “surreal and sinister… real-life version of The Truman Show.”