THE DEFECTOR: ESCAPE FROM NORTH KOREA

Directed by ANN SHIN

Date

November 14, 2019

About Project

DIRECTOR

ANN SHIN

COUNTRY

CANADA

RUNNING TIME

71 mins

YEAR

2013

LANGUAGE

ENGLISH, KOREAN, CHINESE, THAI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

ABOUT THE FILM

Using an undercover camera, Korean-Canadian director Ann Shin documents the escape attempt of a group of North Koreans through China to freedom. The defectors had individually fled oppression and famine in North Korea, only to encounter prison, forced marriage and constant fear in China. Now they have decided to trust the enigmatic North Korean called Dragon, who regularly smuggles people for pay. Animation supplements the real-life footage as we share the tension and learn more about the forces that drive people to take such a drastic step, and discover whether Dragon is motivated by more than money.