Exotic Super-8 film from Northkorea

Post by **MovieMaker** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:47 am

A German user posted in another forum that he just came back from a trip to Taiwan where he bought Super8 film in a supermarket.

He asked the owner of a Chinese restaurant to translate whatÃ‚Â´s written on the package but has been told that it is Korean. After going to a Korean restaurant he knows now that it is a Super8 daylight reversal film, 13 DIN / 16 ASA, manufactured by some company named "Kim Tschek" in Wonsan, Northkorea.

He said that the carts are quite heavier than Kodak ones but they fit into "our" cameras and film runs quite smoothly.

Definitely would like to see some deveolped pictures - but he himself doesnÃ‚Â´t know what process to use.

Just wanted to share this little anecdote...

MovieMaker

Post by **Angus** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 10:11 am

Very interesting, was this brand new stock?

I'm always interested in something new to try out.

Post by **MovieMaker** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 10:19 am

He just wrote that the film is dated with 2006 and he paid approx. Euro 7,- for it. 8O

He doesnÃ‚Â´t have a digicam to send some pix though.

MovieMaker

Post by **gianni1** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 10:44 am

That's so cool... I know several people who've traveled to N. Korea on official business... I must query them about this... A new Super 8 Stock...and a potential business linkup to help the North Korean economy develop and expand world contacts.

The problem is that technically, we are still at war with them, ATM it's only a cease fire... ....their main source of export capital is selling ICBM's (OK maybe only long range missles and nuclear blackmail..). Hersay is that most everyone in the North thinks that we are all imperialist capitalist devils...

I also recently attended a talk by the former UK top diplomat to N.Korea during the early - mid 1990's. He had He hosted a team of their foreign service academy graduates for a month somewhere in central England.

After two weeks of visiting all the local pubs, Burger Kings, Safeways, Fish & Chips, Cinemas, Shopping Malls, these diplomats, realised that the average capitalist devil on the street had never even heard of North Korea, or knew what capitalism or communisim is... These diplomats returned home knowing that everything they thought about the west was fiction, and we were not all devils...

Gianni

Post by **Angus** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:16 am

Is this stock B&W or colour I wonder? How easy is processing.

If it can be reasonably processed I think we'd all be interested in giving it a go...though 16ASA isn't a cartridge notch, is it?

Post by **MovieMaker** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 12:19 pm

Angus wrote:Is this stock B&W or colour I wonder?

ItÃ‚Â´s a color reversal stock. Cardbord-box with red/blue sticker and a Super8 filmstrip on it.

Wonder how big the Super8 "scene" in Northkorea is... 8)

MovieMaker

Post by **Angus** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 12:36 pm

Well, there must be a scene in that part of the world if somebody is not only manufacturing a filmstock....but it's available in supermarkets!

I haven't seen super 8 in a supermarket that I can ever recall, though I do remember in the early 80's just about every camera shop and chemist stocked cine films.

Post by **downix** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 1:41 pm

gianni1 wrote: The problem is that technically, we are still at war with them, ATM it's only a cease fire... ....their main source of export capital is selling ICBM's (OK maybe only long range missles and nuclear blackmail..). Hersay is that most everyone in the North thinks that we are all imperialist capitalist devils...

Actually, the Bush admin has agreed to end the war.

Post by **timdrage** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:19 pm

They make new Super-8 stock in NK!?!?!?! that's beautiful.... I want some...

Wonder how big the Super8 "scene" in Northkorea is... Cool

Well, Kim Jong II is noted to be a huge fan of the movies (to the point of kidnapping a South Korean director and forcing him to make a godzilla-esque propaganda film!) so maybe a lot of film gets shot...

M'Lord · Post by **M'Lord** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:45 pm

So slow it must look pretty decent? Perhaps there is a North Korean camera which is manual meter. Or perhaps they all use Beaulieu 9008. HARHARHARHARHAR

I say, Mr. Hollwood Shop .Com, this is a business opportunity for you. At such prices, you could buy retail and resell with a healthy profit. I have two lovely projectors and enjoy using them and I would give it a go.

Wouldn't that be a shocker? Kodak is outdone by Communists in introducing better K40 replacement to the West.

Post by **Evan Kubota** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 3:38 pm

"Well, Kim Jong II is noted to be a huge fan of the movies (to the point of kidnapping a South Korean director and forcing him to make a godzilla-esque propaganda film!) so maybe a lot of film gets shot..."

Yeah, he idolizes Western movies but hates the culture that created them :lol: It figures that Super 8 would still be alive in some forgotten corner of the globe like N. Korea. Maybe there's still a negative stock produced in Tajikistan ;)

Post by **timdrage** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:42 pm

say, Mr. Hollwood Shop .Com, this is a business opportunity for you. At such prices, you could buy

Definitely! I dunno if there are ebargoes and stuff on North Korea? Tho since the film was bought in Taiwan i guess it's not a problem anyway.

I'm now officially obsessed with this... for one thing, i wonder if there are other different stocks avaliable!?!?

I'd probably boycott Walmart s8 developing if I even lived in the USA, but I'd happily buy film stock from NK! How's that for hypocracy!

Post by **tlatosmd** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:53 pm

M'Lord wrote:Wouldn't that be a shocker? Kodak is outdone by Communists in introducing better K40 replacement to the West.

Great, that's rich! Marx's and Lenin's late revenge in S8! :lol:

I'm also intrigued and obsessed about it. But one thing remains unclear, the Big Question: What process is it? 8O

I guess for now our best bet is that guy ought to go back to that Korean restaurant and ask if there's anything like 'E6', 'EM-26' or whatever process on the box in Korean. Maybe Frank Bruinsma will be able to handle it.

I'd promise to buy from Hollywoodshop.com too, if you're gonna be the only distributor for Germany, Switzerland, and Austria for it. Even if it doesn't say on the box what process it is or if they have another term for a known process or it's a completely unknown process, you could ask that company about it when you'll start corresponding with them about being a European distributor. Maybe they'll send you some data sheets that Frank will be able to make sense of.

Post by **Carlos 8mm** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 5:31 pm

I was wondering If China manufactures Super 8 film, too.

How one can contact people from North Korea, a nation ruled by an Stalinist regime? :?

Carlos.

Post by **Patrick** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 5:40 pm

I am very intrigued by this North Korean super 8 film. I take note that it is a daylight colour film too - a rarity in super 8. Obviously with an asa of 16, you would need a super 8 camera with manual exposure to expose it correctly. A 35mm still camera would come in handy for light readings with such an unsual film speed. I can't recall offhand what the lowest asa that I can set on my canon slrs but I would probably take a reading at that lowest setting and another reading at 25asa and then select the f stop between the two.