By Joe Bendel. For many South Koreans, it is difficult to believe the reports of horrific human rights abuses committed in the North. That is why Polish director Andrzej Fidyk became the prime mover behind Yodok Stories, a stage musical about the inhuman atrocities regularly happening in North Korean concentration camps. Fidyk also documented the controversial theatrical production, undertaken at great risk by defectors who survived the Yodok camp, in his eye-opening Norwegian-produced film, likewise titled Yodok Stories, a standout selection of the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival now available for free in its entirety (see above) at Snag Films.
One thing the North Koreans certainly know is how to do is stage huge spectacles of tens of thousands of tightly choreographed participants, like the grand pageant celebrating the fortieth anniversary of DPRK Fidyk recorded in his 1988 documentary Parade. Impressed by the technical skill required to mount such a production, Fidyk wanted to collaborate with a former North Korean director to document the rest of the North Korean experiment in Communist collectivism. After many inquiries, he eventually found Jung Sung San. Continue reading LFM Review: Yodok Stories & North Korean Tyranny + Watch Film Now for FREE