Imagine living in a country where you have to struggle even to get drinking water! You have to pack and submit your feces to your government, thanks to the lack of sewage systems and the fear of punishment! You don’t have any basic human rights, and you aren’t even allowed to leave the country and go somewhere else! So what do you do then? You escape, risking your life, because you would rather die trying to be free than live in the hellhole called North Korea. Madeleine Gavin’s latest documentary, titled Beyond Utopia, deals with this grave subject matter. It talks about every terrible thing the North Korean regime endorses in a never-before-seen, no-holds-barred manner. Unfolding like a pulsating thriller from the get-go, Beyond Utopia centers on Pastor Kim and documents his attempt to help out two North Korean families fleeing the country. It’s a fascinating watch from start to finish,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Rohitavra Majumdar
- Film Fugitives
The name Pastor Kim comes up early in Madeleine Gavin’s Beyond Utopia. A gentle, aching man, Pastor Kim tells Gavin he has ensured the escape of over 1,000 people from North Korea in the last 10 years. He’s one of the leaders of this Underground Railroad in the area, leading defectors through rivers, mountains, and forests with rods in his neck, rolled ankles, and multiple surgeries plaguing his physical health over the years. Kim becomes the doc’s lynchpin, the character who provides light to the defectors and audience. In short: he’s a hero.
Gavin’s doc looks at the people Kim attempts to help––specifically three generations of a family attempting to flee together and the son of a woman who’s already out. The film intersperses footage taken by the defectors, a few talking heads, animated reimaginings of what happens to defectors, and archival material from North Korea.
Gavin’s doc looks at the people Kim attempts to help––specifically three generations of a family attempting to flee together and the son of a woman who’s already out. The film intersperses footage taken by the defectors, a few talking heads, animated reimaginings of what happens to defectors, and archival material from North Korea.
- 10/31/2023
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
Human Rights Watch states the case very clearly: North Korea “remains one of the most repressive countries in the world.”
In a 2022 report, the nonprofit said, “The North Korean government does not respect the rights to freedom of thought, opinion, expression or information… Fear of collective punishment is used to silence dissent.”
Amnesty International, in a 2022 report of its own, noted, “More than 40% of the population were undernourished and required humanitarian assistance.” It added, “Teenagers were reportedly executed for watching and sharing a South Korean TV show.”
A North Korean propaganda poster
The U.S. State Department, in a 2022 assessment, outlined a staggering tally of abuses in North Korea, “including coerced abortion and forced sterilization; trafficking in persons… and the worst forms of child labor.”
Given these nightmarish conditions, small wonder that many in the country of nearly 26 million would like to leave (even though they are told from childhood...
In a 2022 report, the nonprofit said, “The North Korean government does not respect the rights to freedom of thought, opinion, expression or information… Fear of collective punishment is used to silence dissent.”
Amnesty International, in a 2022 report of its own, noted, “More than 40% of the population were undernourished and required humanitarian assistance.” It added, “Teenagers were reportedly executed for watching and sharing a South Korean TV show.”
A North Korean propaganda poster
The U.S. State Department, in a 2022 assessment, outlined a staggering tally of abuses in North Korea, “including coerced abortion and forced sterilization; trafficking in persons… and the worst forms of child labor.”
Given these nightmarish conditions, small wonder that many in the country of nearly 26 million would like to leave (even though they are told from childhood...
- 9/4/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
"This film is about people attempting to escape from one of the most dangerous countries on Earth." That line of text fades up on the screen in the opening minutes of Madeleine Gavin's "Beyond Utopia," an absolutely harrowing documentary that captures the terrifying process of what it's like to try to cross the border and make a break from Kim Jong-un's totalitarian North Korean regime. Without relying on live-action recreations, the movie is instead comprised of footage captured by three groups: the filmmakers, operatives who participate in a secret underground network, and the subjects themselves. "Beyond Utopia" provides a grounded, human element to the atrocities happening in North Korea, and the results are intense, thrilling, heartbreaking, and vital.
Talking head interviews with people like defector and author Hyeonseo Lee paint a bleak picture of life inside the North Korean borders and provide first-hand accounting of the lies and...
Talking head interviews with people like defector and author Hyeonseo Lee paint a bleak picture of life inside the North Korean borders and provide first-hand accounting of the lies and...
- 1/25/2023
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
“Beyond Utopia” offers an astonishing look at the lengths people will go for freedom. The new documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it has attracted interest from several streaming companies, takes viewers on a harrowing journey as one family risks everything to escape from North Korea.
For director Madeleine Gavin, “Beyond Utopia” is an opportunity to change the conversation around the repressive regime by moving the focus from its brutal leader Kim Jong-un and onto the ordinary citizens who have been abused and neglected by the country.
“As I researched this film, I became more and more outraged that nobody is talking about North Koreans themselves,” says Gavin. “I wanted to crack that world open to people. Too often, we focus on what North Korea’s leaders want us to focus on, which is their nukes. That’s their only leverage. Without them, they would not exist as a country.
For director Madeleine Gavin, “Beyond Utopia” is an opportunity to change the conversation around the repressive regime by moving the focus from its brutal leader Kim Jong-un and onto the ordinary citizens who have been abused and neglected by the country.
“As I researched this film, I became more and more outraged that nobody is talking about North Koreans themselves,” says Gavin. “I wanted to crack that world open to people. Too often, we focus on what North Korea’s leaders want us to focus on, which is their nukes. That’s their only leverage. Without them, they would not exist as a country.
- 1/23/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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