The Fantastic

Oct 15, 2021

0h 30m

★ 6.0

Overview

In Maija Blåfield’s documentary, eight former North Koreans talk about what it was like to watch illegal films in a closed society. In addition to the 'waste videos', South Korean films were also smuggled into the country via China.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Häivekuva Oy

YLE

The Fantastic Trailers

Cast

Herself (voice)

Maija Blåfield

Self (voice)

Taedeog Ghim

Self (voice)

Solha Kim

It’s the last dictatorship of Europe, caught in a Soviet time-warp, where the secret police is still called the KGB and the president rules by fear. Disappearances, political assassinations, waves of repression and mass arrests are all regular occurances. But while half of Belarus moves closer to Russia, the other half is trying to resist…

6.1

North Korea: Inside The Mind of a Dictator

Jan 18, 2021

A journey through Kim Jong Un’s past and present to understand the man and the myth who holds North Korea’s uncertain future in his hands.

2.0

Inês

Nov 17, 1974

Inês Etienne Romeu was an opponent to the Brazilian's dictatorship. She was kidnapped, tortured and raped in jail, where she stayed for almost 100 days. She was later sentenced to life imprisonment. She stayed ten years in prison, from 1971 to 1979. Delphine Seyrig directed this film in 1974, when Inês was still in prison, protesting against this imprisonment and in support to Inês.

6.6

Princess Diana: The Mourning After

Aug 1, 1998

In "Diana: The Mourning After" Christopher Hitchens sets out to examine the bogusness of "a nation's grief", tries to uncover the few voices of sanity that cut against the grain of contrived hysteria. His findings suggested that the collective hordes of emotive Dianaphiles sobbing in the streets were not only encouraged but emulated by the media. In the aftermath of Diana's death a three-line whip was enforced on newspapers and on TV, selling the sainthood line wholesale. The suspicion was that journalists, like the public, greeted the death as a chance to wax emotional in print, as a change from the customary knowing cynicism, to wheel out all those portentous phrases they'd been saving up for the big occasion. Sadly, they just seemed to be showboating; the eulogies, laments and tear-soaked platitudes ringing risibly hollow.

7.6

Forman vs. Forman

Jul 16, 2019

A moving account, in his own words, of the personal life and work of the brilliant Czech filmmaker Miloš Forman (1932-2018): his tragic childhood, his major contribution to the cultural movement known as the Czech New Wave, his exile in Paris, his troubled days in New York, his rise to stardom in Hollywood; a complete existence in the service of cinema.

7.0

Head Wind

Apr 25, 2008

An investigation of government censorship in Iran.

0.0

Under Pressure: How Free Are Europe's Media?

May 28, 2025

How free and independent is the press in Europe? In recent years, multiple crises and the rise of authoritarianism have put pressure on journalists. We take a look at these countries, where aggression towards the media seems to be undermining the very idea of democracy.

6.7

His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th

Apr 20, 2010

A retrospective documentary about the groundbreaking horror series, Friday the 13th, featuring interviews with cast and crew from the twelve films spanning 3 decades.

0.0

Haciendo Memoria

Nov 20, 2005

No overview available.

5.0

Todo es ausencia

Sep 1, 1984

Five Argentinian women, with missing relatives from the military dictatorship that ruled the country, explain their emotions and feelings about all that happened.

4.0

In the Lost City

Feb 4, 2009

The city of Madrid as it appears in the Spanish films of the 1950s. A small tribute to all those who filmed and portrayed Madrid despite the dictatorship, censorship and the critical situation of industry and society.

6.7

The Wikipedia Promise

Jan 3, 2021

In 2001, Jimmy Wales published the first article on Wikipedia, a collaborative effort that began with a promise: to democratize the spreading of knowledge, monopolized by the elites for centuries. But is Wikipedia really a utopia come true?

7.1

This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Jan 25, 2006

Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence.

7.8

A State of Mind

Aug 10, 2005

Two young North Korean gymnasts prepare for an unprecedented competition in this documentary that offers a rare look into the communist society and the daily lives of North Korean families. For more than eight months, film crews follow 13-year-old Pak Hyon Sun and 11-year-old Kim Song Yun and their families as the girls train for the Mass Games, a spectacular nationalist celebration.

7.4

Video Nasties: Draconian Days

Mar 1, 2014

The highly anticipated follow-up to their critically acclaimed VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC, CENSORSHIP & VIDEOTAPE documentary, director Jake West and producer Marc Morris continue uncovering the shocking story of home entertainment post the 1984 Video Recordings Act. A time when Britain plunged into a new Dark Age of the most restrictive censorship, where the horror movie became the bloody eviscerated victim of continuing dread created by self-aggrandizing moral guardians. With passionate and entertaining interviews from the people who lived through it and more jaw dropping archive footage, get ready to reflect and rejoice the passing of a landmark era.

6.8

Exorcismo: The Transgressive Legacy of Clasificada “S”

Oct 3, 2024

Spain, 1975. Franco's death opens the door to the possibility of uncensored cinema. After two years of relaxed censorship, it is abolished in 1977, and the “S” rating is created to protect viewers from films that may “offend their sensibilities.”

10.0

Silenced Shakespeare

Jun 13, 2024

After a 25-year battle with Thai censorship, a filmmaker discusses the value of art in society.

7.8

Korea: The Never-Ending War

Apr 29, 2019

Shedding new light on a geopolitical hot spot, the film — written and produced by John Maggio and narrated by Korean-American actor John Cho — confronts the myth of the “Forgotten War,” documenting the post-1953 conflict and global consequences.

0.0

Una carta de Leticia

Oct 11, 2017

Leticia was 17 years old when she was kidnapped from school. She had arrived in Cipolletti a year earlier from the Vicente López National School in Buenos Aires. This letter was found while searching for photos and testimonies from those days.

0.0

Selective Fire

Invalid Date

From its old age, a SIG-510 rifle tells the story of its military service as a weapon used by the Chilean army. It tells of his military training, its frustrated desire to serve his country, and the memories it has of the Coup d'état that occurred in 1973.

The Fantastic

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Fantastic Trailers