To commemorate the 10th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and North Korea, the British embassy in Pyongyang managed to have the first western movie aired to a North Korean audience. Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 dramedy about a girl who does whatever it takes to play professional women’s football (soccer to us North American honkies), even if going against family values and traditions. The December 26th broadcast was an unusual step for North Korea, who traditionally airs only state-sanctioned news reports, natively made North Korean movies and TV dramas (with a thick helping of propaganda), and video portraying North Korea’s leadership and country status in only the most positive lights.
Soccer/football is one of few national pasttime’s the two countries can share, but it would be interesting to get North Korean viewers opinions on the movie. Many North Koreans have been successful in smuggling South Korean television shows into the country, but one must wonder what sort of impact, if any, the state sanctioned airing of a western movie such as this might have on the society. The 112 minute movie appeared to be edited—but perhaps not that dramatically, as the final broadcast cut was only 8 minutes shorter at 104 minutes long.
Source: BBC
