# "Songs from the North" by Soon-mi Yoo #### calendar\_today Date and Time **November 16, 2014** 07:00PM - 08:30PM EST #### pin\_drop Location **Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138** *Presented by the Harvard Film Archive* THE HARVARD FILM ARCHIVE PRESENTS SONGS FROM THE NORTH BY SOON-MI YOO with filmmaker in person *Co-sponsored by the Korea Institute* Best known for her lyrical and astute short-form essay films, South Korean-born and Cambridge-based artist Soon-Mi Yoo made her feature film debut with her most ambitious and complexly structured film to date, *Songs from the North*, winner of the the prestigious Golden Leopard for Best First Feature at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival. *Songs from the North* is an essay film which looks differently at the enigma of North Korea, a country typically seen only through the distorted lens of jingoistic propaganda and derisive satire. Interweaving images from her three visits to North Korea together with songs, spectacle, popular cinema and archival footage, *Songs from the North* tries to understand, on their own terms, the psychology and popular imagination of the North Korean people and the political ideology of absolute love which continues to drive the nation towards its uncertain future. Yoo’s sincere desire to look closely and objectively at North Korea gives a rare charge and emotion to her remarkable footage of intimate, everyday scenes as well as her poetic inter-titles and an extended interview with her father. To sincerely consider this country that challenges our most fundamental assumptions about the human condition is, Yoo argues, ultimately to question the meaning of freedom, love and patriotism. $12 Special Event Tickets For more information: See also:- [ Korean Film Events ](/event-series/korean-film-events) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#) Save: [ Add to calendar calendar\_today ](https://korea.fas.harvard.edu/node/1553708/event-feed.ics) Copy link link