[imText1]Director Yang Young Hee’s “Goodbye Pyongyang”, a documentary about life in the North Korean capital shot entirely on a small camcorder, will make its much-awaited debut on March 3rd. The film, which shows Pyongyang and its citizens up until 2005, is centered on footage of Yang’s own family going about their lives.
Goodbye Pyongyang looks behind the veil of the North Korean capital to its inner core, unravelling much of the mystery that surrounding it. Images of the city centre and its people are so vivid and raw that Yang has already drawn suspicion from some quarters about how such a film could be shot in the first place.
Yang is currently banned from North Korea, because her previous work, “Dear Pyongyang”, scooped a host of awards at the Sundance, Berlin and Asia First Film festivals. Now, with the high profile release of “Goodbye Pyongyang”, some people close to Yang have expressed fears for the safety of her family in North Korea.
Last week The Daily NK met with Yang Young Hee to talk about “Goodbye Pyongyang” and the film’s main character, Sun Hwa.
– “Dear Pyongyang” and “Goodbye Pyongyang” have both drawn a lot of attention. Because of this work we understand that you have been banned from entering North Korea. Is your family inside the country OK?
I always have some worries about whether harm will come to them. However, in 2005, before I was barred from going back to North Korea I told my brother (Sun Hwa’s father) that I wanted to make a new film with Sun Hwa as the main character. He was really surprised by that, and jokingly called me a ‘really interesting person’, but he did give me permission to do the film.
He told me to live life to the fullest, for all of my brothers and my parents who dedicated their lives to the Chosen Soren (Chongryon). He said, ‘If no one else in our family, at the very least you should say everything you want to say, go everywhere you want to go and live your life freely, right?’ I was very grateful to hear that, but also somewhat worried.
I still exchange letters with Sun Hwa though, and thankfully she and the rest of the family in Pyongyang are alright.
– If you keep making movies then they will be in danger eventually, don’t you think?
It was for precisely that reason that I thought; since we have begun this process, to protect them I should make them even more well-known. “Dear Pyongyang” drew a lot of attention from overseas, and after I got banned from entering North Korea the Chosen Soren sent me a letter telling me to apologize. But instead of an apology I made “Goodbye Pyongyang”. That was my expression of intent, if you will.
– And why of all people did you choose Sun Hwa to be the star?
I have had a few identity crises in my time. Even as a Korean living in Japan I grew up with a North Korean education from the Chosen Soren. I expressed this kind of double identity, my alter ego, through Sun Hwa.
Sun Hwa was born in North Korea and she has grown up with a North Korean education, but she has also grown up with the items my family sent her from Japan. There isn’t a day that goes by where they don’t use something or other from Japan. On top of that, every time I met Sun Hwa I would tell her stories about Japan and other places. This so-called double identity is something Sun Hwa and I have in common, and it’s why I think of her as my alter ego.
I was curious to see what sort of values this “duality” Sun Hwa had grown up with would lead her to develop. She followed my advice that learning a foreign language is a good way to make a living, and got into the School of English and Literature at Kim Il Sung University. Now she writes letters to me in English.
– The last scene where Sun Hwa turns off the camcorder and asks questions about acting is impressive.
Yes, when she gets like that I feel very sympathetic for her. She is a normal, everyday girl who has nothing to do with politics. Just the fact that she felt compelled to turn off the camcorder to ask me questions about acting in other countries says a lot about the brutal reality of North Korea. How sad is it that she had to be on her guard even to have such a simple conversation with me? This young girl recognized that talking about foreign culture could possibly land herself or her family in a lot of hot water. But I always made sure to keep the camera rolling when she got like that.
Despite living amongst this gloomy situation in North Korea, Sun Hwa never loses her smile. At the end of the film there is a blackout in her house and she falls over herself laughing and calling it an ‘honorable blackout’. Do you think any of us who are hardened and worn out from the hustle and bustle of city life would laugh like Sun Hwa in the same situation?
– You put a bright spin on what is a dark situation in North Korea. What is it that you wanted to use this movie to say?
I have a bright personality so I guess that kind of comes out in the movie. I didn’t want to convey an image of North Korea as a dark and shut off place. I just wanted to tell this story of people and families who somehow manage to stay upbeat despite their circumstances.
The last scene with the power outage is a symbol of reality for many North Korean people. In a place with no light they turn their dire situation into one of laughter and smiles. Even in that environment they stay resolute. I wanted to use this film to show the everyday lives of such people in North Korea.
– Describe “Goodbye Pyongyang” in just a few words.
Goodbye Pyongyang is a ‘video letter’ to my niece, Sun Hwa. I wish I could sit with her next to me at the preview and world premiere for this film. I hope that day will come.
[imText2]
