Our take
When Russian director Vitaly Mansky is commissioned by the North Korean government to make a documentary about an average Pyongyang child, he follows their every guideline. Except the end result, Under The Sun, is the complete opposite of what they had intended. For example starting every take earlier than they thought, he makes the documentary about the watchdogs around the child and other mechanisms of propaganda. He uses quiet storytelling to expose how brainwashing in a fascist regime takes place, and how the people caught in it function. May just be the smartest, most important film you can watch on North Korea.
What it won
Oscars
1 nom
The story
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.
Elsewhere
"The vision of such severe regimentation is shocking; Zin-mi's tears of shame and her sharply limited range of knowledge and inhibited behavior embody an outrage."
— Richard Brody
"Although unintentionally funny throughout, its evocation of life in a totalitarian society is ultimately chilling."
— Godfrey Cheshire
The details
Mr. Bachmann and His Class
Female director & Maria Speth
The Missing Picture
Rithy Panh
Fifi Howls from Happiness
Mitra Farahani
Diego Maradona
Asif Kapadia
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Benjamin Ree
Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story
Adam Carolla & Nate Adams
The Other Dream Team
Marius A. Markevicius & Marius Markevicius
Who picked it
Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is based in the US and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.