Aim High in Creation

Australian filmmaker Anna Broinowski goes to North Korea to film ‘Aim High in Creation’.

Anna describes her surreal experiences working alongside Pyongyang’s leading film directors.

Associate Producer: Nicholas Bonner.

Aim High in Creation Introduction

Determined to stop a gas mine being built near her inner-city Sydney home, Anna Broinowski goes to North Korea to meet the masters of propaganda filmmaking. The North Koreans teach her how to make a revolutionary drama in which “heroic workers” overthrow the “evil gas miners”. This, of course, all executed in North Korea’s proudly melodramatic style.

Back in Sydney, Anna’s brave Western cast follow the North Koreans’ instructions, culminating in an uplifting, anti-capitalist drama.

Aim High in Creation & Koryo Studio

Anna’s final documentary would be a film within a film. The only problem was that she had no replies from Pyongyang, and therefore no access…

So, she approached Koryo Studio’s director Nicholas Bonner to see if he could help. Nick was completing the edit on his feature film Comrade Kim Goes Flying. Nevertheless, he managed to find the time. In 2012, he took Anna and producer Lizzette Atkins to Pyongyang to meet the country’s most famous directors and actors.

After this, Anna returned with her crew to film the North Korean directors, to take their advice on creating a good propaganda work.