This documentary provides a rare glimpse of change in the notoriously closed country. Filmmakers Gregor Möllers and Anne Lewald discretely shot the video on trips to North Korea in 2013 and 2017, when they were not allowed autonomy or spontaneity.
Despite the fact that their itinerary was arranged for them in advance and guides chaperoned them everywhere, the two Berliners found a way to register their impressions. They depict a city lacking authenticity, a country longing for reunification and a people shaped by Juche beliefs and socialist propaganda.
In a society steeped in obfuscation and spectacle, where deception is necessary for perception and expression, the filmmakers were forced to play a double role, secretly recording without permission while also genuinely relating to their hosts. By blending travelogue and espionage, A Postcard from Pyongyang captures what happens when you rely solely on what you see, not what you’re told, and reveals a reality Kim Jong-Un’s regime doesn’t want foreigners to see.
