Russian authorities block release of film about North Korean defector
The Russian Culture Ministry has refused to grant a distribution licence to Hana Korea, a film about a North Korean woman who defects to South Korea, the Russian distributor U Films announced on Wednesday.
The ministry justified the decision by citing a vague clause in Russia’s film distribution procedures, which specifies that films may be refused a distribution certificate “in other cases as specified by federal laws.” The authorities’ specific complaints about the film’s contents have not been disclosed.
A Danish and South Korean co-production, Hana Korea was set to be released in Russia on 30 April under the title “Leaving North Korea”. It follows a young North Korean woman, Hyesun, who reluctantly flees to South Korea in order to earn money for her ailing mother’s medication.
Once in South Korea, Hyesun “must face the emotional toll of leaving behind her past while trying to carve out a place for herself in a society that demands personal sacrifice and conformity”, according to the film’s synopsis.
The same clause used to ban Hana Korea has previously been cited by the Culture Ministry to refuse distribution licences to several foreign and domestic productions, including the 2025 film Nuremberg starring Russell Crowe, аs well as the Cannes-winning Persian film It Was Just an Accident, which follows a group of Iranian political prisoners.
On 1 March, Russia banned the distribution of films which discredit “traditional Russian spiritual and moral values and/or promote their denial”. The law requires online streaming services to cease the distribution of films or TV series within 24 hours, if their distribution licence is denied or revoked.
The human rights group Memorial said that the law would allow the Russian authorities to ban any film that portrays “a Russian, a person of Russian descent, or even simply a Russian-speaking character” in a negative light.
The Culture Ministry’s ability to control the distribution of films in Russia is limited, as a large proportion of Russians access foreign films via illegal streaming platforms. According to a report by the Russian newspaper Izvestia, the country’s film industry lost nearly 2 billion rubles (€20 million) due to internet piracy in 2025.
Commenting on Hana Korea’s distribution ban, U Films said: “We are very sorry that Russian viewers will not have the opportunity to see this moving film through legal channels.”
