The movie stars Kim Jong-il kidnapped
image.netA new documentary at the Sundance Film Festival tells the jaw-dropping tale of a South Korean director and actress who claim they were kidnapped and brought to North Korea.
The Lovers and the Despot, a new documentary by British film-makers Robert Cannan and Ross Adam, tells one of the most bizarre stories at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. In 1978, the South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee went missing in Hong Kong; months later, her ex-husband Shin Sang-ok vanished too. It wasn’t until years later that they reappeared – making movies in North Korea.
They claim they had been kidnapped and brought to the hermit kingdom, where they were forced by Kim Jong-il to make films for the regime.
It’s an incredible tale – can it possibly be true? Matthew Anderson speaks to the directors and to Simon Fowler, an expert in North Korean film, to find out.
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