Kidnap. Torture. Murder . . . Making movies North Korean style
Madame Choi, South Korea's most famous actress, is lured to Hong Kong, drugged and smuggled out on a ship. When her ex-husband, Shin Sang-Ok, Korea's most acclaimed director, goes to look for her, he vanishes too. The pair wake to find themselves in North Korea. There they are imprisoned, tortured and brainwashed.
It opens with a double kidnapping . . .
Madame Choi, South Korea's most famous actress, is lured to Hong Kong, drugged and smuggled out on a ship. When her ex-husband, Shin Sang-Ok, Korea's most acclaimed director, goes to look for her, he vanishes too. The pair wake to find themselves in North Korea. There they are imprisoned, tortured and brainwashed. Then they meet North Korea's murderous head of propaganda and next leader, Kim Jong-Il. He gives them a choice - go back to prison or make movies for him . . . Kidnap. Torture. Murder . . . Making movies North Korean style.
“Addictive, profoundly weird”
A true story of desperate movie stars, daring escapes, and the paranoid leader who brought it all together. Equal parts history, thriller, and farce . . . will keep you engrossed until the very end -- Matt Baglio, co-author of 'New York Times' bestseller Argo Captivatingly tells perhaps the most extraordinary tale from the world's most bizarre country. That a North Korean dictator should kidnap two South Korean movie stars and force them to make films he hoped would rival Hollywood seems the stuff of fantasy . . . Flabbergasting -- Paul French, author of international bestseller 'Midnight in Peking' An absolutely brilliant page-turner Daily Mail Stranger than fiction Independent Extraordinary, gripping Financial Times Spectator
Paul Fischer is a film producer and writer. Born in Saudi Arabia and raised in France, he studied Social Sciences at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and Film at the University of Southern California and the New York Film Academy. He has worked as an independent film producer in London for the past seven years; his first feature, the documentary Radioman, won the Grand Jury Prize at the DOC NYC festival. A Kim Jong-Il Production is his first book.
[Sticker: CWA Non Fiction Dagger SHORTLISTED] 'Thrilling, incredible' Metro 'Extraordinary, gripping' Financial Times It opens with a double-kidnapping . . . Madame Choi, South Korea's most famous actress, is lured to Hong Kong, drugged and smuggled out on a ship. When her ex-husband, Shin Sang-Ok, Korea's most acclaimed director, goes to look for her, he vanishes too. The pair wake to find themselves in North Korea. They are imprisoned, tortured and brainwashed for five years, never seeing one another. Then they meet North Korea's murderous head of propaganda and next leader, Kim Jong-Il. He tells them they have a choice - go back to prison or make movies for him. . . This is the true story of how the couple did as they were told - making a cult classic along the way - while secretly plotting a daring escape to the West. 'Gripping, absurd, harrowing' Esquire 'Bold, pacey. Reminds us that ludicrousness and brutality can thrive side-by-side' Independent
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