1. Mrs. B., a North Korean Woman (마담 B)
Portrait of Mrs. B., a tough charismatic North Korean woman who smuggles between North Korea, China and South Korea. With the money she gets, she plans to reunite with her two North Korean sons after years of separation.
It has an average vote of 6.1 on TMDB.
2. High Noon on the Waterfront
An inventive remembrance of the impact of the Hollywood blacklist on two American classics, rendered as a visually mesmerizing dialogue between Carl Foreman and Elia Kazan.
It has an average vote of 6.7 on TMDB.
3. Korea, A Hundred Years of War (Corée, la guerre de cent ans)
A contemporary history of Korea from a unique point of view that embraces the inner history of both South and North Korea in a single narrative.
It has an average vote of 5.5 on TMDB.
4. Pay Off (페이오프)
As the novel 『LimGeojeong』 becomes a great success, the publisher and the writer's bereaved family in North Korea meet to solve the copyright problem. Their exchanges between South and North Korea create another novel-like story that condenses issues in various fields including politics, economy, and culture together with concerns and hospitality.
5. The Case of the Legless Veteran: James Kutcher
The life of James Kutcher, a man who lost both his legs in WWII before his membership in the Socialist Workers Party caused him to be fired from his federal government job, leading to a years-long court battle.
6. Inside High Noon Revisited
An updated version of John Mulholland’s making-of documentary that explores the remarkable 1952 film starring Gary Cooper, and the gripping story behind its troubled production. Though High Noon was originally seen as an attack on the blacklisting witch hunt gripping Hollywood at the time, it is now recognized as a damning portrait of civic complacency, democracy in peril. High Noon is today considered a classic of American cinema.
7. Forbidden Fatherland (바다로 가자)
A documentary that deeply focuses and visits the trauma of Korea's modern history for 70 years through the life of a father whose family was indifferent.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
8. The Border City (경계도시)
Professor Song, staying in Germany, was suspected of espionage and banned from Korea. Now he's expecting to visit Korean after 33 years. The Border City', by whech Berlin was called during the period of partition, could also be a name for Seoul naw that the city is haunted by the 'red complex' and refuses Prof. Song to come back to his homeland.
9. Korea: The Never-Ending War
Shedding new light on a geopolitical hot spot, the film — written and produced by John Maggio and narrated by Korean-American actor John Cho — confronts the myth of the “Forgotten War,” documenting the post-1953 conflict and global consequences.
It has an average vote of 7.9 on TMDB.
10. The 2nd Repatriation (2차 송환)
In 2000, in the era of inter-Korean reconciliation, 63 non-converted prisoners were repatriated to the North, and a 2nd repatriation movement was launched in 2001 but failed again and again in later years. As of 2022, the average age of the surviving secondary repatriation applicants is 91.
11. Spy Nation (자백)
YU Wooseong who had been working as a civil servant is on trial for espionage following his sibling’s confession. A reporter who has been laid off begins following the traces of a spy story manipulated by a government agency. The clues lead to a confession and false evidence that society and the press have turned their back on.
It has an average vote of 8.8 on TMDB.
12. The Day Called X
Portentously portrays the evacuation of Portland, Oregon, when threatened by a nuclear attack on its state-of-the-art civil defense system.
13. Ryeohaeng (려행)
A group of women climbs a summer mountain situated in South Korea. They are refugees who have settled into South Korean society after fleeing from North Korea. For them, climbing the mountains has been an unavoidable journey for survival - a matter of life and death.
14. Project Cheonan Ship (천안함 프로젝트)
Interpreting an event of ROKS Cheonan corvette, torpedoed and sunken by North Korea, this documentary rebuilds the event with a different insight. No one can tell if the investigation of Cheonan has reached compelling conclusion. But the film tells and reveals how unreasonable Korean society is.
15. Repatriation (송환)
In 1992, political prisoners from North Korea settled in the South Korean town where filmmaker Dong-won Kim lived. Sent to South Korea as spies during the war, they spent 30 years in jail. How did they endure the many years of torture? What will become of them now that they have been released? Twelve years in the making, Repatriation is a very personal view of a country divided by an ongoing cold war.
It has an average vote of 6.4 on TMDB.
16. Shadow Flowers (그림자꽃)
Ryun-hee Kim, a North Korean housewife, was forced to come to South Korea and became its citizen against her will. As her seven years of struggle to go back to her family in North Korea continues, the political absurdity hinders her journey back to her loved ones. The life of her family in the North goes on in emptiness, and she fears that she might become someone, like a shadow, who exists only in the fading memory of her family.
17. Defectors (망명자)
Combining a humorous and affectionate family portrait, a historical film and a search for identity, Defectors confronts the impact of the Korean War on different generations. Through encounters with a North Korean defector, Hyun kyung Kim reflects on her separation from her loved ones — such as her whimsical mother, whom she left behind in Korea upon moving to the United States.
18. The Propaganda Game (The Propaganda Game)
North Korea. The last communist country in the world. Unknown, hermetic and fascinating. Formerly known as “The Hermit Kingdom” for its attempts to remain isolated, North Korea is one of the largest sources of instability as regards world peace. It also has the most militarized border in the world, and the flow of impartial information, both going in and out, is practically non-existent. As the recent Sony-leaks has shown, it is the perfect setting for a propaganda war.
It has an average vote of 6.952 on TMDB.
19. The Front Line of Ideology (판문점)
One year after the Korean War, the conflict had reached a stalemate. The two opposing forces began to search for a way to end the grueling war of attrition, eventually settling on a modest village called ‘Pan Mun Jom’ near Gaeseong as the designated site for negotiations. Despite initial hopes for a quick resolution, the negotiating parties encountered obstacles that prevented an agreement. Disputes over the military demarcation line and the repatriation of prisoners of war thwarted their efforts. The film peels back the layers to reveal the untold story of Pan Mun Jom, shedding light on a history that has remained hidden until now.
20. The Lovers and the Despot
Hong Kong, 1978. South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee is kidnapped by North Korean operatives following orders from dictator Kim Jong-il.
It has an average vote of 6.9 on TMDB.
