Press Release: Pyongyang International Film Festival 2025
The Pyongyang International Film Festival (PIFF) is the most unique event at which a foreign filmmaker can showcase their work.
And the 18th edition of the Pyongyang International Film Festival takes place from the 22nd to the 27th of October 2025. This is after a 5-year hiatus.
Koryo Tours were contacted on 14th June to reach out to international film makers for submissions and assisted with facilitation of the the Pyongyang International Film Festival.
Of the 92 films the company entered, a mixture of features, animation, shorts, and documentaries only 11 were accepted to be shown at the festival.
The 11 nominees are -
|
FILM NAME |
COUNTRY |
TYPE |
|
Always Until Victory! |
Indonesia |
Short |
|
Calypsonians |
Panama-Denmark |
Documentary |
|
Not Enough Smoke |
Mexico |
Short |
|
Moon Under My Feet |
Philippines |
Short |
|
Jenga Afrika |
Congo, DR |
Short/Documentary |
|
Russian Spitsbergen |
Russia |
Documentary |
|
When Clay Speaks |
Morocco |
Documentary |
|
Health and Healing in Ancient Greece and China |
Greece |
Documentary |
|
Piropolis |
Chile |
Documentary |
|
Valentina and the MUOSters |
Switzerland-Italy |
Documentary |
| Wall Unit | Poland | Animation |
Koryo Tours has worked closely with the festival organisers over the years, helping to expand and improve the range of films shown at the festival which are seen by large numbers of locals.
In 2004 we arranged for the hit UK film 'Bend it like Beckham' to be shown at PIFF to a total audience of over 12,000.
Some of the other best-known titles to have featured over the years include ‘Mr. Bean’s Holiday', ‘March of the Penguins’, and ‘Bride and Prejudice’.
In 2018, the Chinese action film Wolf Warrior 2 was shown to a delighted local audience, brought up on a staple of rather dull North Korean war films.
In 2013, Nicholas Bonner of Koryo Tours co directed a North Korean, UK, Belgium co production ‘Comrade Kim goes Flying’. This is North Korea’s first girl power film, and the first to be classified as entertainment.
It was released in 2013 at PIFF and has since been broadcast around the country as well as available on dvd.
It has a special screening at this year’s festival and is a favourite amongst local cinephiles.
Whist there were many submissions to the Pyongyang International Film Festival 2025, there were fewer than in previous years.
Nick Bonner commented;
Very few North Korean films have made it onto the world stage.
The classic Flower Girl (1972), martial arts epic Hong Kil Dong (1986) and touching local mega-hit The Schoolgirls Diary (2006) are perhaps the best known.
Prior to 2018, North Korean films were only shot on 35mm film and were viewed by the leadership as outdated in style.
After two years retraining of directors and film crew, feature films are now shot in digital format with more contemporary editing and graphic scenes.
Films such as ‘A Day and a Night’ and ‘72 Hours’ will join the line-up of films shown at the festival.
A collection of foreign delegates will stay at the festival hub.
The 47-story Yanggakdo Hotel on an island in the Taedong River that flows through Pyongyang.
The festival’s main venue is the Pyongyang International Cinema House, a five screen venue located next to the Yanggakdo Hotel. There are 14 cinemas across Pyongyang and films are shown in a selection of them. Pyongyang residents are able to purchase tickets beforehand in booths located around the city.
For the closing ceremony on 27th October, the 3,000 seater venue of the People's Palace of Culture will be selected for a rare night where selected members of the Pyongyang public can mix with their countries film stars and foreigners and experience a touch of showbiz glitz and dazzle.
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