Movies Similar to North Korea's Secret Slaves: Dollar Heroes

Land Without Bread(1933)

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.

Behind The Swoosh

Have you ever wondered what it is like to live on a Nike sweatshop wage? Watch the award-winning short film, Behind the Swoosh, and see Jim Keady and Leslie Kretzu attempt to survive on a Nike worker’s wage in the industrial slums of Indonesia.

Ilaingan(2011)

Karky works in a shipyard owned by Rajanayagam, a feudalistic industrialist who imprisons his workers in the factory compound and refuses to allow them to have any link with the outside world. How Karky unites the workers and leads them to freedom is what the movie is about.

Woman, Life, Freedom: An Iranian Revolution(2023)

On September 16, 2022, in Teheran, the murder by police of the young Mahsa Amini, arrested for "wearing a headscarf contrary to the law", sparked off an unprecedented insurrection. Within hours, a spontaneous movement formed around the rallying cry: "Woman, life, freedom". For the first time, women, joined by men and students, took the initiative and removed their veils, the hated symbol of the Islamic Republic. The Iranian population, from all regions and social categories, rose up in protest. Social networks went wild. The diaspora (between 5–8 million Iranians) took up the cause, and the whole world discovered the scale of this mobilization: could the theocratic regime be overthrown this time?

Cyborg Society(2023)

What does the looming A.I. revolution mean for us as individuals and as a society?

Royaume-Uni, du Brexit au Bregret(2024)

Nous paysans(2021)

In barely a century, French peasants have seen their world profoundly turned upside down. While they once made up the vast majority of the country, today they are only a tiny minority and are faced with an immense challenge: to continue to feed France. From the figure of the simple tenant farmer described by Emile Guillaumin at the beginning of the 20th century to the heavy toll paid by peasants during the Great War, from the beginnings of mechanization in the inter-war period to the ambivalent figure of the peasant under the Occupation, From the unbridled race to industrialization in post-war France to the realization that it is now necessary to rethink the agricultural model and invent the agriculture of tomorrow, the film looks back at the long march of French peasants.

Strip-Tease intégral(2025)

More faithful than ever to the spirit of the cult series that has been inspiring filmmakers for nearly thirty years, STRIP-TEASE INTEGRAL offers us, this time on the big screen, five sensitive, touching, sometimes absurd, often funny, sometimes dark, sometimes bright - but always the vanities of human society in all their marvelous banality.

Mafia Is Not What It Used to Be(2019)

Palermo, Sicily, Italy, 2017. Twenty-five years after the murders of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone, on May 23, 1992, and Paolo Borsellino, on July 19, 1992; and on the occasion of the tributes held in memory of both heroes, skeptical photographer Letizia Battaglia, chronicler of their titanic combat, criticizes the opportunism of shady characters who, like businessman Ciccio Mira, profit from the commemoration of both tragedies.

La peur au ventre(2024)

Exploring the rise of anti-abortion groups in Canada, the filmmaker also presents the feminist and pro-choice response that is being organized across the country.

A Love in Germany(1983)

In May of 1983, a man turns 49 and, with his 17-year old son, journeys to the village in Baden that he left 40 years before. He wants to discover what happened then, the truth about an affair his mother had with a young Polish prisoner of war, how the authorities came to learn of it, the lovers' arrest, and the aftermath. While his son takes Polaroid photographs, he retraces the steps of his childhood and interviews those who should remember. The story is disclosed in flashbacks that focus on the lovers (Paulina and Stanislaus), on a jealous and conniving neighbor, and on Mayer, the local SS commander who wants to find a way out of inevitable consequences.

Jakob the Liar(1999)

In 1944 Poland, a Jewish shop keeper named Jakob is summoned to ghetto headquarters after being caught out after curfew. While waiting for the German Kommondant, Jakob overhears a German radio broadcast about Russian troop movements. Returned to the ghetto, the shopkeeper shares his information with a friend and then rumors fly that there is a secret radio within the ghetto.

Boundary(1973)

Pajo is a hardworking, lonely but also very rich farmer. His son Toma was, however, bored with country life and tried to seek fortune in the city. Short on money, Toma returns to the farm for a handout while Pajo tries to convince him to stay.

One Summer Night(2016)

Caught in forbidden love, Yong Joon defects from North Korea, leaving Jae Sung behind. Years later, a reunion forces him to choose between past and present.

Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency(2021)

Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency is a deeply personal and candid film following Roman as he explores the mental health and suicide crisis affecting young men in the UK.

The Salt of the Earth(2014)

During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.

The Society of the Spectacle(1974)

Guy Debord's analysis of a consumer society.

Re-Births(2017)

A documentary film depicting five intimate portraits of migrants who fled their country of origin to seek refuge in France and find a space of freedom where they can fully experience their sexuality and their sexual identity: Giovanna, woman transgender of Colombian origin, Roman, Russian transgender man, Cate, Ugandan lesbian mother, Yi Chen, young Chinese gay man…

Rather Be Ashes Than Dust(2023)

Memories of his four-year journey focused on the Hong Kong protests. Narrated in the first person, is rich with reflections and contemplations, most intertwined with feelings of guilt.

D'Emmanuelle à Emmanuelle(2024)

« Emmanuelle » was released 50 years ago. Its main character, played by the young Sylvia Kristel, delve freely into her sexuality, without taboo. This bold movie became one of the great success of french cinema in the 70s, and Emmanuelle became the face of sexual liberation. Through the gaze of a woman, the character is back on the screen in 2024. This new Emmanuelle, written by Audrey Diwan, go in quest of a lost pleasure.