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| A scene from the animated film 'True North' (English title), or "Remember Me" (Korean title), which depicts life in a North Korean political prison camp / Courtesy of BoXoo Entertainment |
Director calls for immediate action on human rights abuses in North Korea
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Director Eiji Han Shimizu has always been interested in compelling human interest stories. Prior to making "True North," an animated film about a family held captive in a brutal North Korean political prison camp, he has dealt with issues on Tibet, Palestine and other regions infamous for human rights abuses.
"True North" follows Yohan, a nine-year-old boy from Pyongyang who is unjustifiably imprisoned after his father is accused of a crime. Yohan's youthful innocence and his belief in the innate goodness of others is gradually washed away from him as he faces the harsh realities of life and death in the camp.
"I was purely interested in making a film that can have a positive impact on the world. Prison camps in North Korea are incomparable to any of the other atrocities occurring in the world today, so I thought I need to intervene," he said during an interview with The Korea Times via Zoom, Monday.
For Shimizu, the horrors of North Korea's political prisons are personal. Born as an ethnic Korean in Japan, he grew up learning about the tragic destinies of many Korean-Japanese families who migrated to North Korea in the 1960s and 1970s.
"About 93,000 ethnic Koreans voluntarily left Japan for North Korea because they thought it was the 'promised land.' Luckily, my family didn't," he said. "The strange truth is that there is an ambience that nobody wants to talk about because they know their family members and friends are really suffering."
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| Eiji Han Shimizu, the director of "True North" / Courtesy of Eiji Han Shimizu |
However, the topic was so hard to deal with and potential investors were cautious about the dangers they may face or the commercial opportunity being limited.
"This was about a 10-year process," he said. "I wish I could have completed it much sooner. But I've done the best I could. I spent about five years looking for money. Predominantly, it's a self-financed project."
Based on years of research and interviews with former political prisoners who defected to South Korea, the film incorporates elements of the real-life experiences of individuals who endured some of the worst human rights abuses of our time.
"The episodes that occur in the film are mostly based on true stories of multiple survivors. I interviewed five people who lived inside prison camps. Without a camera or microphone, I have been in touch with about 40 defectors," he said.
According to Amnesty International, it is estimated that over 120,000 innocent people, including the elderly and children, are imprisoned in political prison camps in North Korea today. At this very moment, these alleged "enemies of the state and the party" are enduring starvation, forced labor, torture and public execution.
"There are many forms of tortures, excruciating to me. I saw a gentleman whose arms are shaped outwardly because he was being forced to work since he was an infant. The ropes he carried were so heavy that his bones bent," he said.
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| A scene from the animated film, 'True North' (English title), or "Remember Me" (Korean title) / Courtesy of BoXoo Entertainment |
Despite the tragic reality, Shimizu intentionally brought down the degree of brutality in his film.
"I had to create a buffer to protect audiences from psychological trauma. If you show these types of torture and violence in an animated film, nobody would want to see it unless they like horror films," he said.
He also used origami (Japanese paper folding) to mitigate the level of violence.
"Animated characters like Pokemon or Disney characters are fluffy, round and chubby, which make them lovable. Unfortunately inside North Korea, you don't find anybody chubby. They are like skeletons, almost like zombies. So I needed to retain softness but show they are facing physical challenge. Origami creates a shadow," he said.
The film emotionally engages a global audience by depicting relatable individuals hidden behind prison walls. The director explained why the film is made is English, not in Korean or Japanese.
"The purpose of this film is to change the situation. I wanted to reach out to as many people as possible because the situation is not changing. There are people who are working really hard on it, but this issue needs immediate improvement. Nothing has changed over several decades, so you can't keep on appealing to the same old people. So English naturally became the choice of language," he said.
During the interview, he stressed that the film has to be entertaining in order to make a real impact.
"In order to make a real impact, you want to reach out to ordinary people. And to do that, content must be entertaining. Otherwise, it's just education material that sits on the shelf and nobody watches it," he said.
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| A scene from the animated film 'True North' (English title), or "Remember Me" (Korean title) / Courtesy of BoXoo Entertainment |
Shimizu also mentioned "North Korea fatigue" ― exhaustion with North Korean issues, particularly the human rights situation.
"Take the war in Ukraine as an example. When we first heard of little kids crossing the border in Ukraine, we were infuriated and we wanted to take action. We were emotionally aroused. A few months later, we still have sympathy but we care less and less. The same applies to North Korea. People say, 'Oh, another North Korean story, another statistic that says 2,000 people died … too bad.' I want to say, 'No wait, it is people like you, your family. Let's be compassionate,'" he said.
Apart from the powerful message, the director explores the protagonist's journey to keep his belief in the innate goodness of others.
"Another focus of the film is that people are always floating between the spectrum of good and bad. Nobody is 100 percent Mother Teresa or 100 percent Darth Vader. Your beliefs always fluctuate, and that's the beauty of humanity. You can try to be better all the time. In that sense, the character is very relatable," he said.
"True North," whose title was changed to "Remember Me" in Korea, is currently playing in local theaters.
