The inaugural North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival opens tomorrow. Ten films in a 300-seat theater, all completely free, open to anybody: in other words, a great opportunity for people interested in North Korean human rights to learn much more about it.
But there is more; a little pre-emptive action to prepare for the event? There is also a 20-panel photo exhibition which, as part of a nationwide tour, is to be established in the foyer of the Lee Hae Rang Arts Theater at Dongguk University, where the film festival takes place.
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Meanwhile, all 10 films are on the subject of human rights in North Korea, and they are;
1) North Korea VJ (documentary, 20mins, Ishimaru Jiro)
Secretly filmed documentary about real life in North Korea, produced by Ishimaru Jiro of ASIAPRESS.
2) Winter Butterfly (drama, 90mins, Kim Kyu Min)
Feature film about an 11-year old, Jin Ho, who lives together with his sick mother. One day he goes into the mountains to gather wood but gets hurt. His mother goes to find him, but she cannot, and by the time he returns the family has a much bigger problem.
3) Inside (drama, 20mins, Lee Sang Hyun)
Short film about a father protecting his daughter inside a tent besieged by guards waiting to kill escapees.
4) Children of Ryanggangdo (drama, 95mins, Kim Sung Hoon, Jung Sung San)
In Bocheonbo, Samjiyeon County, Yangkang (Ryanggang) Province, brothers Jong Su and Jong Sung live with their mother. Jong Su, who dreams of visiting Pyongyang, finds a balloon from South Korea one Christmas Day: it contains a Santa Claus costume and a robot toy. Suddenly, he becomes a celebrity in the village.
5) Lonely Echo (documentary, 20mins., Lee Hee Heon)
Short film portraying the pain of Korean War abductees.
6) Tumen River (drama, 93mins., Jang Ryul)
In a village on the Tumen River which forms the border between Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture of China and North Hamkyung Province, there is a Korean-Chinese boy named Chang Ho who lives with his grandfather and sister. He befriends a North Korean boy, Jeong Jin, who has crossed the border to find food. However, the boy’s friendship suffers as the adults in the village become troubled by North Korean defectors.
7) Crossing (drama, 112mins, Kim Tae Gyun)
Jun’s family lives happily in northeast North Korea in a small coal mining village. One day his mother collapses from chronic TB and his father goes in search of the medicine that could save his wife. While he is in China finding the remedy to save his sick wife, she dies. Jun, left alone, embarks on a search for his father.
8) Kimjongilia (documentary, 76mins., N.C. Heikin)
American documentary about North Korea, famously named after a flower bred especially for the North Korean leader.
9) Final Report (drama, 23mins, Kwon Sun Do)
Fictional short film about a North Korean defector who kills a fellow defector in South Korea.
10) Elephant in the Room (documentary, 40mins., Cho Yeon Su)
Documentary discussing North Korea problems through the thoughts of foreigners. Contains interviews with real North Korean human rights activists who focus on the humanitarian aspects of the North Korea problem rather than the political, defectors themselves, and Professor Andrei Lankov.
