Showtime:Saturday July 7th, 2012 @ 6:30 Location:Innis Town Hall
About Dear Pyongyang
Duration: 107 minutes Subtitles: English Country: Japan Director: Yong-hi Yang
Synopsis:
A second-generation Korean Japanese, filmmaker Yang Yonghi grew up not understanding why her father, originally from the southern part of the Korean peninsula, decided to pledge loyalty to North Korea, became the local leader of a pro-North Korea organization, and sent his three teenage sons, then aged 14 to 18, to live in Pyongyang in the 1970s. Shot in both Osaka and Pyongyang, this film documents the family’s various reunions in the North Korean capital, the ritual of sending large boxes of supplies to Pyongyang, and the filmmaker’s complex relationship with her father marked by both ideological conflicts and affection. The film provides a rare glimpse into the life of ethnic Koreans in Japan as well as life in Pyongyang. The filmmaker has been banned from entering North Korea since the release of this film.
Awards & Recognitions:
Asian First Film Festival: Swarovski Trophy for Best Director of Documentary
Berlin International Film Festival: Netpac Award
Sundance Film Festival: Winner of Special Jury Prize for World Cinema – Documentary
