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The Pyongyang International Film Festival (PIFF) will kick off its week-long run on Oct. 22, organizers said on Thursday.
Launched in 1987 and held every two to three years, the festival became an annual event in 2018 but was suspended indefinitely after its last one in 2019 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The resumption of the festival comes after the Pyongyang International Marathon was held in April for the first time in six years, drawing over 500 participants including 200 foreign runners.
The country is also reportedly preparing for the grand opening of the Wonsan and Kalma coastal tourist zone in Kangwon Province, one of leader Kim Jong-un's pet projects, as he apparently aims to boost the country's tourism industry as a source of hard currency for his regime.
Capitalizing on these developments, Koryo Tours, a British travel agency based in Beijing, was quick to offer festival-themed package tours as an official partner of the festival. Tourists will be able to watch films and take part in sideline events, with their itinerary also including several points of interest in Pyongyang.
According to an ad posted on the tour agency's website earlier this week, films from around the world will be screened at about a dozen cinemas in Pyongyang and other rural areas. But it added, "Films from Japan, South Korea, and the USA have been barred from the festival since it began in 1987. That policy remains unchanged today."
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