tambourine-man
Bluelight Crew
I have no idea if this is the appropriate forum, but I just watched this on SBS (Australian TV channel) and was completely blown away. I believe it was shown in the US some time ago, in December 2005 on PBS. Given that it was part of the "Cutting Edge" brand, I would imagine that it has been screened in the UK also.
Put simply, it tells the stories of several small groups of North Korean families and friends, attempting to defect to other foreign countires in North-eastern Asia, through both actual home-video footage of events as they happened and interviews of people involved in 'underground train'.
Let me tell you, it's fucking harrowing. No gore, no blood, no screams... just intimate accounts of doomed people.
The film deftly examines the relationship that exists between China, North Korea, Japan and the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). It highlights the very personal plight of North Korean subjects that have taken the extraordinary risk of defecting to neighbouring countries - usually China - knowing that if their defection fails, they will be repatriated to North Korea and be consigned to one of N.Korea's 'gulags' that are alleged to exist (successful defectors have suggested that the mortality rate in these prisons are as high as 25% per annum). Put simply, these people have reached their limits and will risk death for the chance of liberty.
The footage shows their preparation, their fears, their confidence in the face of danger, and their almost naive optimism for their chances of success. There's also some rare footage of the dire conditions on the North Korean side of the border, with famine, disease and squalour commonplace.
Politically, it accuses the Chinese government of intentionally sending more than 200 refugees per week back to North Korea - to their almost certain death - and casts doubt on the Chinese argument that they are not refugees, but migrant workers attempting to leech off China's labour market. More damningly, it looks towards the UNHCR's inability to intervene effectively on the Chinese/N.Korean border and hold China accountable to international refugee law that China is a signatory to.
It's available on Mininova and other bittorrent sits. If anyone's interested (I'd imagine you will be few and far between), I've added the programme synopsis below and links that provide details and film clips.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.seoultrain.com/
PBS WEBSITE: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/seoultrain/
Put simply, it tells the stories of several small groups of North Korean families and friends, attempting to defect to other foreign countires in North-eastern Asia, through both actual home-video footage of events as they happened and interviews of people involved in 'underground train'.
Let me tell you, it's fucking harrowing. No gore, no blood, no screams... just intimate accounts of doomed people.
The film deftly examines the relationship that exists between China, North Korea, Japan and the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). It highlights the very personal plight of North Korean subjects that have taken the extraordinary risk of defecting to neighbouring countries - usually China - knowing that if their defection fails, they will be repatriated to North Korea and be consigned to one of N.Korea's 'gulags' that are alleged to exist (successful defectors have suggested that the mortality rate in these prisons are as high as 25% per annum). Put simply, these people have reached their limits and will risk death for the chance of liberty.
The footage shows their preparation, their fears, their confidence in the face of danger, and their almost naive optimism for their chances of success. There's also some rare footage of the dire conditions on the North Korean side of the border, with famine, disease and squalour commonplace.
Politically, it accuses the Chinese government of intentionally sending more than 200 refugees per week back to North Korea - to their almost certain death - and casts doubt on the Chinese argument that they are not refugees, but migrant workers attempting to leech off China's labour market. More damningly, it looks towards the UNHCR's inability to intervene effectively on the Chinese/N.Korean border and hold China accountable to international refugee law that China is a signatory to.
It's available on Mininova and other bittorrent sits. If anyone's interested (I'd imagine you will be few and far between), I've added the programme synopsis below and links that provide details and film clips.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.seoultrain.com/
PBS WEBSITE: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/seoultrain/
Programme Synopsis
"With its riveting footage of a secretive underground railroad, SEOUL TRAIN is a riveting documentary about the life and death of North Koreans as they try to escape their homeland. SEOUL TRAIN is the definitive exposé into this growing and potentially explosive humanitarian crisis. It portrays not only the human toll, but also the complex geopolitics of a crisis that threatens to undermine the stability of East Asian peace. SEOUL TRAIN will have its television premiere on PBS' Independent Lens, hosted by Edie Falco.
By combining vérité footage, personal stories, and interviews with experts and government officials, SEOUL TRAIN depicts the flouting of international laws by major countries, the inaction and bureaucracy of the United Nations, and the heroics of activists who put themselves in harm's way to save the refugees. Today, there are an estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living underground in China. They escaped a food crisis and other persecutions at home that have claimed the lives of approximately 3 million in the past 10 years. As the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stands idly by, the Chinese government-in direct violation of international laws to which it's a party-systematically arrests and forcibly repatriates hundreds of these refugees each month.
Defecting from North Korea is a capital offense, and repatriated refugees face human rights abuses ranging from concentration camps and torture to forced abortion and summary executions. For a lucky few refugees, however, there is hope. A group of multinational activists has taken it upon themselves to create an underground railroad. Via a network of safe houses and escape routes, the activists-at great personal risk-help the refugees in daring escapes to freedom over thousands of miles of Chinese territory. This is an odyssey in which betrayal and deceit lurk around every corner, and the price of getting caught likely means death. It's an epic tale involving years on the lam living in underground shelters, North Korean and Chinese agents, double-crosses, covert border crossings, and the terror of what happens if they get caught.
In order to capture the essence and urgency of the current crisis, the stories of several refugee groups are told through actual footage. The filmmakers follow these refugees from their arrival in China-before they begin their escape attempts-as they recount the horror they left behind. We also hear their fears of being caught and sent back to North Korea, where they know their doomed fate. We watch as they make their respective escape attempts, and in the dramatic conclusion, we see the outcomes: Some make it to freedom; others, including an eight-month-pregnant Nam Chun-mi, get caught by the Chinese and are sent to their demise. As if the current problem were not bad enough, estimates are that upon the fall of Kim Jong-il's regime, millions of refugees will flood into China across the shallow Tumen and Yalu rivers that divide the two countries.
In SEOUL TRAIN, we meet the activists on the front line, learn of the risks they take for their refugees and for themselves, and see firsthand the toll their work takes on them. We also hear from the Chinese government, which articulates why the country claims the North Koreans are not refugees; from the UNHCR as to why it has failed to save even one North Korean refugee; from members of U.S. Congress that have publicly challenged both the People's Republic of China and the UNHCR; and from other experts (academics and NGOs) on the crisis at hand as they foretell the impending disaster.
"With its riveting footage of a secretive underground railroad, SEOUL TRAIN is a riveting documentary about the life and death of North Koreans as they try to escape their homeland. SEOUL TRAIN is the definitive exposé into this growing and potentially explosive humanitarian crisis. It portrays not only the human toll, but also the complex geopolitics of a crisis that threatens to undermine the stability of East Asian peace. SEOUL TRAIN will have its television premiere on PBS' Independent Lens, hosted by Edie Falco.
By combining vérité footage, personal stories, and interviews with experts and government officials, SEOUL TRAIN depicts the flouting of international laws by major countries, the inaction and bureaucracy of the United Nations, and the heroics of activists who put themselves in harm's way to save the refugees. Today, there are an estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living underground in China. They escaped a food crisis and other persecutions at home that have claimed the lives of approximately 3 million in the past 10 years. As the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stands idly by, the Chinese government-in direct violation of international laws to which it's a party-systematically arrests and forcibly repatriates hundreds of these refugees each month.
Defecting from North Korea is a capital offense, and repatriated refugees face human rights abuses ranging from concentration camps and torture to forced abortion and summary executions. For a lucky few refugees, however, there is hope. A group of multinational activists has taken it upon themselves to create an underground railroad. Via a network of safe houses and escape routes, the activists-at great personal risk-help the refugees in daring escapes to freedom over thousands of miles of Chinese territory. This is an odyssey in which betrayal and deceit lurk around every corner, and the price of getting caught likely means death. It's an epic tale involving years on the lam living in underground shelters, North Korean and Chinese agents, double-crosses, covert border crossings, and the terror of what happens if they get caught.
In order to capture the essence and urgency of the current crisis, the stories of several refugee groups are told through actual footage. The filmmakers follow these refugees from their arrival in China-before they begin their escape attempts-as they recount the horror they left behind. We also hear their fears of being caught and sent back to North Korea, where they know their doomed fate. We watch as they make their respective escape attempts, and in the dramatic conclusion, we see the outcomes: Some make it to freedom; others, including an eight-month-pregnant Nam Chun-mi, get caught by the Chinese and are sent to their demise. As if the current problem were not bad enough, estimates are that upon the fall of Kim Jong-il's regime, millions of refugees will flood into China across the shallow Tumen and Yalu rivers that divide the two countries.
In SEOUL TRAIN, we meet the activists on the front line, learn of the risks they take for their refugees and for themselves, and see firsthand the toll their work takes on them. We also hear from the Chinese government, which articulates why the country claims the North Koreans are not refugees; from the UNHCR as to why it has failed to save even one North Korean refugee; from members of U.S. Congress that have publicly challenged both the People's Republic of China and the UNHCR; and from other experts (academics and NGOs) on the crisis at hand as they foretell the impending disaster.
