The politics and poetics of North Korean Juche cinema

North Korean film, just like other art and cultural forms from this country, is either deemed mere propaganda and thus unworthy of critical scrutiny or simply viewed as one of few windows available to us through which we could peep into this secluded society. In fact, almost all writings on North Korean cinema deal with the ways in which political intentions and the personality cult are distributed through recurring themes, similar plots and archetypical characters. There has been virtually no room for film aesthetics when it comes to North Korean film. Challenging these myopic perspectives, this article aims to shed light on the poetics of North Korean Juche cinema – in other words, how stylistic patterning, filmic techniques and visual modes engender particular effects and serve specific purposes, placing the cinematization process of Juche ideology in conversation with political questions through the analysis of film theories developed in North Korea and filmic conventions of North Korean Juche films.