DMZ International Documentary Film Festival Will Open with 'I Am Sun Mu' - Story about a North Korean Painter
A documentary on the life of a painter, who defected from North Korea and then lived in South Korea, has been selected to open the 7th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival. The event will run from September 17 to 24, 2015.
The organizers have announced on Tuesday that "I Am Sun Mu" will be shown on the first day of the weeklong festival, according to a report by Yonhap News on Tuesday. The film has a total running time of 87 minutes and is under the production of Adam Sjoberg - an American photographer and filmmaker.
"It was really difficult to choose the opener out of many titles," DMZ Docs' executive director and actor Cho Jae Hyun comments during a press conference. "I saw the film twice. I think this is the film that matches well with the meaning of the 70th anniversary of the Korean division."
DMZ Docs, which has started in 2009 and has turned into the nation's biggest documentary film festival, features documentaries with the themes "life," "peace" and "communication."
This year's edition will show 102 documentaries from 43 countries worldwide. These will be shown in theaters and other venues in Goyang and Paju, cities in Gyeonggi Province.
"I believe the film festival is a great start for turning Camp Greaves into a cultural space. It appears the local Gyeonngi Province government feels the same way. You can't actually go inside the DMZ zone, so the camp really serves as a symbolic landmark," Cho said.
The Hollywood Reported has published an article on Tuesday stating that it will be the second time the documentary film festival is held at Camp Greaves, a military base previously used by the U.S.
The 7th edition of DMZ Docs will highlight disputes in North Korea and other regions around the world. 'I Am Sun Mu' is one of the eleven documentaries - wherein most of the filming took place in North Korea - that will appear during a special program.
