Under the Sun
Over the course of one year, this film follows the life of an ordinary Pyongyang family whose daughter was chosen to take part in Day of the Shining Star (Kim Jong-il's birthday) celebration. While North Korean government wanted a propaganda film, the director kept on filming between the scripted scenes. The ritualized explosions of color and joy contrast sharply with pale everyday reality, which is not particularly terrible, but rather quite surreal.
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Cast
8 people
Vitaly Mansky Director · Kārlis Auzāns Composer Alexandra Ivanova Cinematographer
United States release July 6, 2016 · Produced in Czechia, Germany, Latvia, Russia, North Korea · Languages German, Korean, Russian
Production
Hypermarket Film
Production
Saxonia Entertainment
Production
Česká televize
Production
Vertov Studio
Production
Vertov
Production
Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR)
Production
Vertov.Real Cinema
Production
Czechia · Germany · Latvia · Russia · North Korea
Produced in
Languages
Original title
Im Strahl der Sonne
Original language
German
Spoken on screen
German · Korean · Russian
Release dates
Germany · October 29, 2015
Premiere · DOK Leipzig
Czechia · October 30, 2015
Limited theatrical · Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival
United States · July 6, 2016
Premiere · New York City, New York
Germany
March 10, 2016 · Theatrical
October 19, 2016 · TV
Greece
October 12, 2017 · Theatrical
Japan
January 21, 2017 · Digital
Poland
July 1, 2016 · Theatrical
Russia
October 27, 2016 · Theatrical
Slovakia
September 29, 2016 · Theatrical
South Korea
April 27, 2016 · Theatrical
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Some details come from TheTVDB.