Under the Sun

Under the Sun offers a unique insight to the daily life of North Koreans, which is dictated by the government. We understand that Manskiy is under some strict governmental guidelines from the first minute of this film. He expresses his gratitude towards the North Korean government for supplying him with a script and for following him and his crew everywhere to ensure that they depict the everyday life of a normal family, “in the world's best country to live”, in a realistic way. By playing out these guidelines Manskiy cleverly deconstructs the intentional propaganda and exposes the governmental power dynamics at stake. By letting the camera roll between official takes we see how the censorship wants us to perceive a “normal” North Korean family.

In June this year it was announced that the acclaimed curator at MOMA in New York, Sally Berger, lost her job because she cancelled a screening of Under the Sun without clearance from her superiors. Berger allegedly rejected the film for fear of the consequences a screening would entail.

Vitaliy Manskiy (b. 1963) is an award winning Russian director and producer born in Ukraine. He started his carrier in 1989 and his films have been screened at festivals around the world. He is specially known for his intimate and different portrait of Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin in the documentary trilogy “Red Tsars - Presidents of Russia.”

DIRECTOR CONVERSATION

Manskiy and the Norwegian artist Morten Traavik were filming in North Korea at the same time. Their experiences were very different. We are looking forward to delving deeper into these experiences in a conversation between the two which will take place after the screening on the 9th October. Moderator: Audun Lindholm from Vagant.

Manskiy will also meet the audience for a Q&A after the screening on the 10th October.