School Girl's Diary

The Schoolgirl's Diary (한 녀학생의 일기) is a 2006 North Korean film that was released in France in 2007. It is the first film from North Korea to be picked up for international distribution in several decades.

"A Schoolgirl’s Diary focuses on modern-day issues and social pressures relevant to modern youth in the DPRK. Marked by a ’70s aesthetic, it also offers a charming portrait of the country with upbeat sing-alongs, cheerful soccer games and neighbours doing good deeds. At the same time, the film presents more serious elements, such as commercial branding, new technologies and foreign-language studies alongside traditional values of commitment to family and state" (Reel Asian).

Hungry for Hallyu

Haeundae hits a Pyongyang college. A group of North Korean college students were caught watching a downloaded version of the movie Haeundae one month after it was released in South Korea, according to a think tank group in Seoul called North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity.

"In a separate release by the Korean Institute of National Unification, experts have quoted North Korean defectors who have testified that South Korean melodramas like "Autumn in My Heart" and "Winter Sonata" have become a such hit in the North that a special squad was once organized to crack down on the violators" (Hollywood Reporter).

South Korean pop culture must be so intriguing and fascinating to the North Koreans who have experienced nothing but the Dear Leader's propaganda. It also probably brings them an escape from the reality of their world to the extent that they are willing to be imprisoned (now the incidents are so common, sentences have been reduced).

About 20 years ago, a group of North Korea officials visited our home in China. My father played for them a South Korean sitcom (전원일기). Even at a young age I knew that this might land us in trouble. Fortunately, my father's instinct knew that they would love it and soon the officials were all on the floor laughing their hearts out. They wanted more. More laughter. More light heartedness. More happiness.

For more information: ABC News: NKoreans Risking Lives for SKorean Soap Operas

Kimjongilia - the movie

Today I went to see Kimjongilia at the VIFF. It is a documentary produced by Heikin after she heard the story about Kang Chol-Hwan's child imprisonment in a concentration camp. She felt she needed to do something to expose these crimes against humanity. Thus, the film Kimjongilia. What impressed me the most about this documentary was the ending where the NK refugees were asked, "What about the future?" A former general replied that the day the world stops aiding, the North Korean people will overcome the regime with their own bare hands. An elderly lady who was imprisoned due to her friendship with the high officials' mistress said that the world needs to know about the crimes and intervene because the North Korean people have no voice. The others...are waiting for the end of KimIlSung. I agree with all of them.

From www.kimjongiliathemovie.com

"KIMJONGILIA, The Flower of Kim Jong Il, is the first film to fully expose the disaster through a tapestry of defectors’stories,North Korean propaganda, and original performance. This feature documentary shows why the defectors fled, describes their hair-raising escapes, and recounts the dangers they face in China, hunted by Chinese as well as North Korean police. These refugees are from every walk of life, from child concentration camp inmates to an elite concert pianist. But their stories all speak of body-and-soul killing repression and paint a picture of a country so far off the rails it defies belief. Ultimately, these humble heroes are inspiring, for despite their suffering, they hold out hope for a better future."