Comrade Kim Goes Flying

Comrade Kim Yong Mi is a North Korean coal miner. Her dream of becoming a trapeze artist is crushed by the arrogant trapeze star Pak Jang Phil, who believes that "miners belong underground and not in the air".[3] Co-director Nicholas Bonner described it as a "girl-power fairy tale about dreaming to fly", adding that his hope was "for Korean audiences to see the film on both sides of the border and be entertained".[1] The three producers reportedly "steered [the North Korean writers] toward comedy and away from the more predictable propaganda line of triumph through hard work".[1]

The film is directed by Kim Gwang Hun, Nicholas Bonner and Anja Daelemans; produced by Anja Daelemans, Nicholas Bonner and Ryom Mi Hwa; and written by Sin Myong Sik and Kim Chol.[4][3]

The main cast is as follows:[4]

• Han Jong Sim as Kim Yong Mi ("Comrade Kim")
• Pak Chung Guk as Pak Jang Phil
• Ri Yong Ho as Commander Sok Gun
• Kim Son Nam as Yong Mi's father
• Ri Ik Sung as the coal mine manager
• Kim Un Yong as Ri Su Yon (trapeze artist)
• Han Kil Myong as Yong Mi's Grandmother
• An Chang Sun as Jang Phil's mother

It is a coproduction between Belgian production company Another Dimension of an Idea, the Korea Film Export & Import Corporation, and British travel company Koryo Group.[4][3] It is the fourth film produced by Koryo Group in co-operation with North Korea. The previous three films The Game of Their Lives (2002), A State of Mind (2004) and Crossing the Line (2006) were documentaries. Comrade Kim Goes Flying was shot in Pyongyang, with a North Korean cast and crew.[2]

Comrade Kim Goes Flying premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012.[4] The film also showed at the 2012 Pyongyang International Film Festival.[2][5] In October, it was shown at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.[6] In March 2013 it played in the United States, with the Wall Street Journal calling it a "feel-good style of a Doris Day–Rock Hudson picture".[7] The film was screened at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in July 2018.[8]

The programmer for Toronto described the film in these terms: "A winning, life-affirming fable about a young coal miner's pursuit of her dream to become an acrobat, Comrade Kim Goes Flying is the first Western-financed fiction feature made entirely in North Korea".[9]

Reviewing the film for Variety, Jay Weissberg wrote: "Comrade Kim Goes Flying proves that cooperation with the West really is possible, at least in cinema. A candy-hued throwback to a chirpy Technicolor time when pluck wins out and 'postmodern' wasn't yet invented, this 'let's put on a show!' tale of a young woman miner's dream of becoming an acrobat has been winning hearts since preeming at Toronto".[10]

• Official website
• Comrade Kim Goes Flying at AllMovie
• Comrade Kim Goes Flying at Box Office Mojo
• Comrade Kim Goes Flying at IMDb 
• Comrade Kim Goes Flying at Rotten Tomatoes
• About Koryo Group films