Still of animation based on North Korean painting of Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il, as seen in KIMJONGILIA, directed by N.C. Heikin. Photo courtesy of Green Garnet Productions
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Kimjongilia (2009/2010)
Opened: 03/19/2010 Limited
| Limited | 03/19/2010 | |
| Cinema Village... | 03/19/2010 - 04/01/2010 | 14 days |
| DVD | 10/12/2010 |
Trailer: Click for trailer
Genre: Documentary
Rated: Unrated
Synopsis
Kimjongilia is an unblinking indictment of life in North Korea under the dictatorship of Kim Jong Il. This searing examination of the communist dictatorship established by Kim Il-sung and continued today by his son Kim Jong-il dispels the illusion of a Worker's Paradise peddled by the North Korean government and exposes the injustice, tragedy and famine prevalent over the past forty years.
Director NC Heikin compiles a series of testimonies -- and daring escape stories -- from concentration camp refugees, defectors and former Korean Army officers. The result is a collage of firsthand witnesses to the unrepentant pain caused by the tyrannical leadership. The courageous individuals documented here have risked everything in the hope of exposing the truth about this cloistered, xenophobic territory.
Their testimonies are supplemented by interpretive dance and a riveting score, indicative of the film's keen interest in Korean art -- both the propagandistic kind sanctioned by the government and the sort of artistic expression that can result in execution. Footage of cheery government propaganda is juxtaposed with survivor testimony and cold-hard facts. This practice of exposing the truth through ironic exhibition extends to its title: Kimjongilia being the name of the flower created to celebrate Kim Jong-il's 46th birthday. This feature-length documentary is a damning condemnation of a regime founded upon total oppression of its people.
