Masters of Dox

Under the Sun

Vitaly Mansky
Screening time  
24.02. / Wednesday, 19:00 - 21:00 Theatre 3  
28.02. / Sunday, 16:00 - 18:00 Theatre 1  
Zin-mi lives with her hardworking parents in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Zin-mi lives with her hardworking parents in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a country where the country’s deceased leaders continue to watch over them – their ubiquitous portraits are hanging in living rooms, at schools and even in the metro. Zin-mi is about to join the Korean Children’s Union, which means she is on the verge of becoming part of this ideal society where grownup stuff like hard work and taking responsibility for yourself are essential. Director Vitaly Mansky was able to film her and her family over the course of a year, though the government watched him like a hawk throughout the entire shoot. In various scenes, we watch as the family gets instructions from above on how they can come across even more ideally as a patriotic entity. It becomes increasingly clear that this film isn’t capturing the real life of a North Korean family, but rather revealing how propaganda is made. And despite everyone’s inexhaustible attempts to showcase that ideal society, Mansky still manages to film the real deal behind it all.

Vitaly_mansky

Vitaly Mansky

Vitaly Manskiy (1963, Lviv, Ukraine) graduated from VGIK in 1989 and became one of the most prominent contemporary Russian documentary filmmakers and producers. He has directed over 30 films which have been screened at almost every major festival around the world and have won over 100 international awards. He is the founder and president of the International Festival of Creative Documentary Films Artdocfest (its activity was halted in 2022 due to censorship in Russia, as well as Russia’s war against Ukraine). He is persecuted by the Russian authorities for defending his civic position

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В лучах Солнца (V luchakh solnca)

Russia, Latvia, Germany, Czech Republic, North Korea
2015, 106' 17''

Directed by:
Vitaly Mansky

Screenplay by:
Vitaly Mansky

Cinematography:
Alexandra Ivanova, Mikhail Gorobchuk

Edited by:
Andrej Paperny

Producers:
Natalya Manskaya, Simone Baumann, Filip Remunda

Produced by:
Saxonia Media Filmproduktion, Hypermarket Film, Vertov.Real Cinema, Korea Film Export and Import Corporation

Festivals & Awards:

Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival 2015 – Award for Best Central and Eastern European Documentary Film, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2015 – Special Jury Award, Jury Prize for Best Director, IDFA 2015, DOK Leipzig 2015, Docpoint Helsinki 2016, Docpoint Tallinn 2016