[imText1]A new documentary film about the lives of Pyongyang people, “Goodbye Pyongyang,” was unveiled for the media yesterday in Seoul.
While her previous documentary, “Dear Pyongyang,” depicted the lives of North Korean-Japanese people through the lens of her father’s life, this time director Yang Young Hee, a North Korean-Japanese citizen, depicts the daily Pyongyang life of her niece Sun Hwa.
As a dedicated supporter of the Kim Il Sung regime, Yang’s father, who was born on Jeju Island and saw the liberation from Japanese rule at the age of 15, worked for Chongryon (General Association of North Korean Residents in Japan) for many years. Thus, in the 1970s, he decided to send his three sons to live in Pyongyang as a part of the Homecoming Project. It is the results of this decision that are on display in Yang’s films.
Yang made “Goodbye Pyongyang” between 1995 and the middle of the 2000s, visiting her brother’s home in Pyongyang several times, watching her niece, Sun Hwa, growing up as a real citizen of Pyongyang; reciting poems and singing songs in praise of Kim Jong Il.
Naturally, it is a documentary full of both humor and sorrow. When Yang mentions to Sun Hwa, “The Mickey Mouse on your socks; it’s an American character. Won’t they get confiscated?” Sun Hwa points out in whispers, “Nobody knows this is an American character.”
But in her last meeting with Sun Hwa, when Yang describes foreign plays, Sun Hwa makes her turn off the video camera, leaving only subtitles on a dark screen, “I can’t understand the stories of the plays you are talking about,” she says, “but go ahead, as long as you are ok. It’s better than listening to nothing.”
[imText2]The documentary shows that the people of Pyongyang have a decent standard of living: trolley cars traverse the streets; bright, sunny children attend people’s (elementary) schools; and the happy families of the director’s three brothers laugh and play.
Yet, there is another side on display, too; one of frequent blackouts, with tap water only running for a short period each day.
Speaking at the screening, Yang explained, “There were many stories I couldn’t include in the film. I made it carefully, on the basis that it would not harm my family in North Korea. I hope you will watch it not as a North Korea and Pyongyang story, but as a story of ordinary people.”
“Goodbye Pyongyang,” will be released in South Korea in March.
