Discover the best of North Korean cinema, film, and television
Discover the definitive list of popular and critically-acclaimed movies and TV shows from North Korea. Find your next binge-watch, streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
The cinema of North Korea
To enter the world of North Korean cinema is to encounter one of the most unique and singular film cultures on the planet, where the art form is treated with revolutionary seriousness. The industry's driving force was famously the nation's late leader, Kim Jong Il, an obsessive cinephile and theorist who even authored the book On the Art of the Cinema. He saw film not merely as entertainment, but as the most powerful tool for shaping the nation’s spirit and promoting the core ideology of Juche, or self-reliance. This passion famously led to one of the most bizarre chapters in film history: the 1978 kidnapping of the acclaimed South Korean director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife, Choi Eun-hee. They were brought to North Korea to revolutionise the artistry of its films, and in their years there, they produced several pictures, including the iconic giant monster movie Pulgasari. The backbone of the industry has always been the grand revolutionary epic, telling stories of heroic sacrifice against imperialist forces, and melodramas that reinforce the importance of the collective good. This tradition continues today, with state studios producing films and television dramas for a domestic audience. What makes North Korean cinema so fascinating is the absolute seriousness with which it treats the medium. It is a cinema where every frame is intended to have meaning and purpose, a true national project where film is seen not just as art, but as an essential pillar of society itself.
Best North Korean series
A Squirrel and a Hedgehog 1976
Equal parts propaganda and children's cartoon, Squirrel and Hedgehog is a North Korean animated series about the animal inhabitants of a place called Flower Hill. The squirrels, hedgehogs, and the ducks there represent North Korea. Other factions include a friendly but unreliable bear (Soviet Russia), while the antagonists are made up of weasels (Japan), mice (South Korea) and wolves (United States of America). The series reinforces the North Korean philosophy of "juche" (self-reliance) in the face of overwhelming odds. Spanning four decades of irregular production, the quality greatly improves over time as North Korea's SEK studio applies techniques learned as an under-the-table subcontractor for many Western animation studios.
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Squirrel and Hedgehog 1977
Two teenagers (Geumsaegi and Juldarami) fights against an evil army.
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Longman, the Little Big Hero 2006
Nalong 2 is a Korean animation, also known by the name Longman, the Little Big Hero. It is a product of the major anime broadcaster Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, and the animation was done by Studio Kaab. The story centers on the animal and hero character Nalong, a world hero fighter squirrel.
10Six Martyred Ministers 2007
North-South collaboration drama about the Six Martyred Ministers of Joseon, executed in 1456 for trying to reinstate King Danjong after his forced abdication by his uncle Prince Suyang.
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Best North Korean movies
Pulgasari 1985
In feudal Korea, a group of starving villagers grow weary of the orders handed down to them by their controlling king and set out to use a deadly monster under their control to push his armies back.
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The Best in Hell 2022
Propaganda movie about units of the "whites" (PMC "Wagner") who perform an assault operation to capture buildings. They are opposed by the "yellow" units, which have dug in these buildings and are also ready to fight to the end.
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Comrade Kim Goes Flying 2012
A North Korean coal miner struggles to realize her dream of becoming a circus acrobat.
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Hong Kil-dong 1986
This movie tells the story of Hong Kil Dong, a legendary 15th century Korean Robin Hood figure.
58Wish 2011
The story of a husband and construction worker whose dream is to have his picture taken with the leader of his country.
70The Parade of the Korean People's Army 2002
A documentary spanning from the Korean Wars to the present. (MUBI)
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