Under the Sun (Vitaly Mansky, Russia/Latvia/Germany/Czech Republic/North Korea, 2015)

Shot with the permission and supervision of North Korean authorities, Russian director Vitaly Mansky’s film turns a propaganda effort into a deep-cover documentary about life inside one of the world’s most repressive nations. Its subjects—a young girl in Pyongyang and her family—rigorously stick to the ideological script, but by keeping the camera rolling between takes of their carefully staged “real life,” Mansky reveals the grinding gears of the totalitarian message machine.

Part of the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival at the BAMPFA!