I’m sure that my parents who used the famine in Ethiopia guilt trip on me when I didn’t want to finish my plate had no idea that they could throw in North Korea in their discourse. My favorite publicist tried to get me to include this Sundance doc among my coverage, I passed, but I’ll finally get the opportunity to catch N.C. Heikin’s Kimjongilia , a doc film that like Team America paints an accurate and unflattering image of the lousy Kim Jong Il government. Lorber Films will release the doc in 2010.
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.