Filed Under: Film

Participating in Biit: The 2016 North Korea Human Rights Film & Freedom Festival, No Chain and the US-Korea Institute at SAIS present an exclusive screening of The Lovers and the Despot, a documentary on the North Korean kidnappings of South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee and filmmaker Shin Sang-ok in the 1970s.

Choi and Shin, The Lovers and The Despot

The Lovers and the Despot tells the story of young, ambitious South Korean filmmaker Shin Sang-ok and actress Choi Eun-hee, who met and fell in love in 1950s post-war Korea. In the 70s, after reaching the top of Korean society following a string of successful films, Choi was kidnapped in Hong Kong by North Korean agents and taken to meet Kim Jong Il. While searching for Choi, Shin also was kidnapped, and following five years of imprisonment, the couple was reunited in North Korea by the movie-obsessed Kim, who declared them his personal filmmakers. Choi and Shin planned their escape, but not before producing 17 feature films for the dictator and gaining his trust in the process.

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