Pyongyang diaries

This documentary records Hoaas’ personal encounter with the closed society of North Korea (the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea). In a landscape replete with showcase monuments and bombastic images of progress, the film explores these images as a presentation of an idealised reality, and between them, forms an image of the people through observations, conversations, and personal diary reflections on other experiences at the time of filming. As with her earlier work, Hoaas approaches her film as a cumulation of fragments encompassing different perspectives that together offer a point of entry into a complex society. Her diary-style narration signals her limited personal perspective into this culture, especially given the brief filming period and her difficulty in breaking through the facade of the showcase version of Korea insisted upon by her official guides. Hoaas’ restricted visual access, and her reluctance to present over-familiar images of the hardship and depravation informed her decision to use this narrative device to frame her film within the context of the famine crisis that began in 1997 following the failure of crops caused by two consecutive years of heavy flooding. Reference: Hoaas, Solrun. ‘Pyongyang Diaries: director’s notes’ Documenter Vol. 4 No. 1 March 2001. http://www.documenter.com/back011/011hoaaa.htm