BUSAN (AFP) ― A North Korean romantic comedy about a female coalminer who dreams of becoming a trapeze artist was given a rare screening before a South Korean audience on Wednesday.

South Korea normally bans all forms of media from the North but the government made an exception for the romantic comedy “Comrade Kim Goes Flying,” screening at the 17th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).

“We are proud to say that we have played our part in the cultural exchange between North and South Korea,” said festival director Lee Yong-kwan, adding that he hoped more films from the North would be screened in the future.

The screening saw BIFF extend its first ever invitation to a team behind a North Korean production. The film’s co-director Kim Gwang-hun was unable to attend, but fellow directors Anja Daelemans, from Belgium, and Brit Nicholas Bonner made the trip.

“There just wasn’t enough time to arrange for Kim to come as we only received the invitation in late September,” said Bonner.

“But we are thrilled to be here. It is an exciting opportunity for North Korean film and our dream now is to see the film released in cinemas in South Korea,” he said.

Comrade Kim stars Han Jong-sim as a young woman who works in a coalmine but follows her dream of becoming a trapeze artist. The filmmakers said they aimed to make a piece of pure entertainment, albeit one with distinctly North Korean characteristics.

“We wanted people to come out of the cinema with a smile,” said Daelemans, who received Oscar nominations as producer for her two short films Gridlock (2002) and Tanghi Argentini (2006).

“I think there are two types of movies ― movies you make for yourself and movies you make for an audience. This is a movie for the audience,” she said.

“We intended to make a film, full stop,” added Bonner. “You can’t not want to make that film.”