Asian Film Festival of Dallas 2009 - ‘Kimjongilia’

A heartbreaking and damning indictment of North Korea's despotic leader, Kimjongilia (The Flower of Kim Jong-il) provides the personal accounts of a handful of the hundreds of thousands who have fled the troubled nation over the past decade.

Imprisoned (and sometimes born) in forced labor camps, faced with malnutrition, starvation, torture and execution, they describe the hardships and unbearable losses they overcame to escape, usually to China or South Korea. A pianist recalls undergoing strenuous torture and his attempts to safeguard his hands. A former army colonel tells of how under-nourished troops died of disease while others plundered supplies or deserted. South Korean activists attempt to aid refugees, with varying degrees of success. And a singer is told her voice is too similar to a South Korean pop star's, deeming it "capitalist" and unacceptable.

Told through very matter-of-fact interviews surrounded by stylistic flourishes that include interpretive dance, child-like sketches of atrocities and clips from propaganda films, Kimjongilia is an emotionally powerful look at a nation in chaos.

Official Selection 2009 Sundance Film Festival

Information from the festival's website