North Korea: A State of Mind BBC 4 10pm

written by Daniel Gordon and produced by Nicholas Bonner. This documentary is like a visual diary, it begins February 2003 and ends April 2003. It follows young gymnasts and their families as they prepare for the Mass Games in Pyongyang. Two million people live in Pyongyang and one million take part in the games which includes mass parades to celebrate the auspicious day of Kim Jong- Il's or Kim Jong il's beneficent leadership. Both are worshiped for their ideology and aura. There was a third attribute that I missed. 'Foreign language is a weapon for life and struggle' is one of the classroom mantras. There's a lot of struggling. And this is North Korea's elite. There's 90 performances over four months viewed by four million. There's one television channel. It reminded me of 1950's Britain. There are no fat kids. No fat adults. The elite get one chicken and five eggs per month. Song Yun, one of the young girl's filmed trains for four hours after school. Two hundred million man hours are spent on the games, all for the love of Kim Jong Il. Being so great he's too busy to attend. This is regarded as understandable. His aura hangs out and overshadows everything.