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Apologies for a last minute heads up, but we've been alerted to two separate film festivals on North Korean human rights issues taking place this weekend. If you are anywhere near Toronto, you still have time to catch what look like some intriguing films, making not only great weekend plans but also an opportunity to meet defectors, activists, and other like-minded people in the NK human rights field.
Let’s start with something slightly closer to (read: my) home. Jayu, a volunteer organization committed to raising awareness and encouraging discussion on human rights issues in North Korea through film, is holding its Human Rights Film Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto from Friday to Sunday (Oct. 25-27).
You can browse Jayu’s films & schedule tab for details of the work on display. As with any good festival, the selected entries demonstrate a broad canvas of subject, tone, and style from filmmakers around the world. On Sunday, there's “Camp 14: Total Control Zone”, a doc on the life of Shin Dong-hyuk, a man born and raised in a North Korean prison camp, which weaves together live-action witness testimony with stark animated sequences. Playing this afternoon, “Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story” covers the highly charged political-security issue of Japan’s rachi mondai (abductions of Japanese citizens by DPRK intelligence agents). And, while unfortunately having already screened last night, “Comrade Kim Goes Flying” is the story of a female North Korean coal miner who wants to become a trapeze artist. Being billed as “North Korea’s first ‘girl power’ movie,” the story of how this Belgium-UK-North Korean joint produced film got made is fascinating in and of itself.
Moving on to our friends a little further afield, NKnet should have just wrapped up its 3rd annual North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival in Seoul this weekend, which featured work from South Korea, Japan, Canada, the US, and Germany. Screenings took place on Friday and Saturday at the Film Forum near Ewha University, so unfortunately its too late if you are just hearing about this now. Still, great to hear that events such as these are going on, and hopefully you can look forward to another installment next year!