Kimjongilia

For sixty years, North Koreans have been governed by a totalitarian regime. A cult of personality surrounds its two recent leaders: first, Kim Il Sung, and now, his son, Kim Jong Il. For Kim Jong Il's 46th birthday, a hybrid begonia named kimjongilia was created, symbolizing wisdom, love, justice, and peace. The film draws its name from this bright red flower and reveals the extraordinary stories told by survivors of North Korea's vast prison camps, of deadly famine, and of every kind of repression. In a series of devastating interviews with refugees, director N.C. Helkin traces their torturous paths to freedom, on rickety sailboats and across mountain passes, while exposing the inhuman conditions they suffered in the nation's concentration camps.... read more and purchase here.

©2009 · 74 Minutes · $129.00 (without PPR) · $249.00 (with PPR)

A State of Mind

A State of Mind follows two North Korean schoolgirls and their families in the lead up to the "Mass Games" -- the biggest and most elaborate human performance on earth -- and in the process reveals more of North Korea than ever before. Following on from the 2002 award winning documentary The Game of Their Lives, VeryMuchSo productions was granted permission from the North Korean film authorities to make a second documentary: an observational film following two young gymnasts, 13 year old Pak Hyon Sun and 11 year old Kim Song Yun, and their families for over eight months in the lead up to the Mass Games -- involving a cast of thousands in a choreographed socialist realism spectacular -- the biggest and most elaborate human performance on earth..... read more and purchase here.

©2004 · 94 Minutes · $179.00 (with PPR)

Crossing the Line

An "unforgettable documentary" (New York Daily News), Crossing the Line is the "absolutely fascinating" (Hollywood Reporter) story of James Joseph Dresnok, a US Army private who in 1962 stunned the world by walking across the violently contested DMZ that cuts Korea in two and defecting to the communist North. Taking full advantage of access granted by the government of North Korea, the "axis of evil's" mysterious and feared rogue state, director Daniel Gordon (The Game of Their Lives, A State of Mind) combines historical footage with contemporary interviews to both uncover the Kim-Jong Il regime and end 44 years of secrecy and rumor by allowing Dresnok to tell his own story.... read more and purchase here.

©2007 · 91 Minutes ·  $189.00 (with PPR)