Coming to DVD next Tuesday, October 12: KIMJONGILIA
NC Heikin’s debut documentary had its world premiere in competition at last year’s Sundance – the project was also supported by the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program and participated in the Sundance Story & Edit Labs in 2008. After the festival, Lorber Films gave the film a limited theatrical release.
KIMJONGILIA takes an in-depth look at North Korea through the testimony of survivors of the dictatorship’s legendary prison camps who managed to escape, as well as through a stunning amount of propaganda films and other rarely-seen official footage extolling the magnificence and beneficence of Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il. The former prisoners’ stories of injustice, abuse, and famine serve as a powerful counterpoint to the lush images of a happy, prosperous country.
what (not) to doc 