Introduction
The Propaganda Game is a 2015 documentary film about North Korea by director Álvaro Longoria.
Granted controlled access by national officials, filmmaker Álvaro Longoria tours North Korea to contrast his findings to the typical Western depiction of the nation.
Outline
Longoria was permitted to film high-quality footage within the country, his visit facilitated and monitored by Alejandro Cao de Benós, the Spanish founder of the Korean Friendship Association who himself becomes a subject of the documentary.
The film, which includes interviews as well as archival and contemporary news footage, attempts to describe the nation’s social realities with particular attention to media manipulation by the DPRK government, while also questioning the simplifications and caricatures about North Korea made by foreign observers.
Longoria told Variety that he had deliberately avoided “the typical moving handheld secret look at North Korea”, and that he undertook, in the film’s striking opening sequence, “to use ‘propaganda’ aesthetics” and “to shoot North Korea in a way that hasn’t been shown before: as beautiful as possible”, with attention to Pyongyang residents enjoying leisurely activities in their city.
“Most people say they’ve never seen North Korea like that, which is surprising as we just shot what we were shown”, Longoria said.
The filmmaker, who readily admits that he is not an expert in North Korea, “decided to make information manipulation the underlying plot” of his film, and through the use of restrained commentary, to let viewers themselves decide what may or may not have been staged for his visit.
Production & Filming Details
- Director: Álvaro Longoria.
- Producer: Álvaro Longoria.
- Writer: Álvaro Longoria.
- Music: Fernando Velazquez.
- Cinematography: Diego Dussuel and Rita Noriega.
- Editors: Victoria Lammers and Alex Marquez.
- Release Date: 19 September 2015.
- Running Time: 98 minutes.
- Country: France and Spain.
- Language: English.
YouTube Link
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