Yodok Stories wins Jerusalem Award
Yodok Stories wins “In the Spirit of Freedom Award” at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
JFF is Israel’s leading film festival. In the Spirit of Freedom Award is granted to the film best dealing with human and civil rights, social justice and freedom of speech, expression and religion.
From the JFF webpage:
To this day, more than 200,000 men, women, and children are imprisoned in North Korea’s concentration camps. A daily dose of torture, hunger, and murder are meted out to these unfortunate souls labeled “enemies of the working class” by the totalitarian regime. “Yodok” is the name of re-education camp no. 15. Although it is one of the most “lenient” of the camps, few can withstand the ordeal for much time. What is certain is that such a regime will have no trouble refilling the ranks.
Polish documentary filmmaker Andrzej Fidyk has documented North Korea in the past, and his experience told him that neither he nor anyone else would ever be allowed to film life in the camps. He therefore follows a group of defectors from the North putting on a musical about life in their country, with a particular focus on the political prisoners. The play is directed by Jung Sung-San, a former North-Korean stage director who defected in the mid-90s. “High melodrama; as if Andrew Lloyd Weber decided to put an Amnesty International report to music,” is how one critic praised the musical. But the real power of the film comes from the testimonies that frame the stage performance (“a truly horrifying catalog of atrocities” according to Neil Young of the Hollywood Reporter).
“In the spirit of freedom awaed” - In Memory of Wim van Leer. The Award is granted to the best film in the category, a film dealing with human and civil rights, social justice, freedom of speech, expression, and religion.
$10,000 courtesy of the Nathan Cummings Foundation and $3,000 courtesy of Vivian Ostrovsky
Members of the Jury:
Dina Zvi Riklis, Israel Director, scriptwriter, and graduate of the Theater Department of Tel Aviv University. Among her feature films: Three Mothers, Dreams of Innocence, Purple Lawns, Levana My Dear. She also has numerous short and documentary films to her credit.
Shlomi Eldar, Israel Arab affairs reporter for Israel Channel 10, covering the Gaza Strip. Author of Eyeless in Gaza (2005) and winner of the 2007 Sokolov Award for Journalism. Currently completing an M.A. in Middle East Studies at the Hebrew University.
Judy Ironside, UK Founder and Director of the UK Jewish Film Festival, currently in its 12th year. The UKJFF tours 20 cities and towns in the UK and is working to assist new Jewish film festivals in Europe and the Balkans. In 2008, the UKJFF held their first Israeli Cinema Showcase in London.
5/8-2009
Yodok Stories wins “In the Spirit of Freedom Award” at the Jerusalem Film Festival.