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Documentary Shows Lives of N. Korean Gymnasts

By Joon Soh
Staff Reporter

British documentary filmmaker Daniel Gordon is one of the extremely rare people who are given nearly free access to North Korean society. His first documentary in 2002 about the reclusive country, "The Game of Their Lives," told the story of the North Korean soccer team at the 1966 World Cup. The one-hour film was well received in the West and gave the director near celebrity status in the North.

Gordon's newest film, "A State of Mind," which screened at the Pusan International Film Festival last week, details the lives of two child gymnasts _ 13-year-old Park Hyon-sun, 11-year-old Kim Song-yon _ as they prepare to take part in the 2003 Mass Games in Pyongyang. An elaborately choreographed event celebrating Communism with 100,000 gymnasts, dancers and other performers, the Mass Games is an undertaking that Gordon says is "better than the opening ceremony of the Olympics by far."

But more importantly, through documenting the gymnasts and their families, Gordon also gives viewers a rare up-close look at everyday life in the capital city that, outside of the "Dear Leader" rhetoric here and there, may surprise Westerners with its ordinariness.

Although Mass Games is an incredible spectacle, "it's individuals that make up the performance and that's what inspired us to make the film, an individual behind the mass."

Gordon first went to North Korea to interview members of the 1966 North Korean soccer team for the British television channel Sky Sports. However, when Sky Sports decided not to produce the program and no other television channel seemed interested, Gordon, with his associate producer David Bonner, decided to start their own company, Very Much So Productions, to make their first film, "The Game of Their Lives", themselves.

Gordon admitted to not knowing very much about North Korean politics when he began "The Game of Their Lives", and made the film from a "purely neutral sporting perspective". And perhaps because of this neutrality, Gordon and his film crew were allowed to document the reclusive country in a way no other Westerner was previously allowed.

"People find that hard to believe but we've never had our movements restricted in the 11 times I've been there", Gordon said. "We need permission to go places but it's never been refused".

This access into North Korea also took place on an individual level in "A State of Mind". Gordon gives a glimpse into the domestic lives of the gymnasts, often filming them in their apartments as they relax with their family.

"The families asked us, `Why would anyone be interested in our daily lives?"' Gordon said. "But we told them that's exactly what everyone's interested in, because no one (outside of North Korea) has seen it before".

From his observations of South and North Korean societies, Gordon sees how while the two countries' systems and political beliefs are miles apart, underneath there are still much in common. "What I'm really hoping for is that the film not just promote understanding, but it might promote exchanges as well".

Gordon also presented "A State of Mind" at the Pyongyang International Film Festival in North Korea last month, where he also made the opening speech for the event.

"But the thing that really strikes me there is that (North Koreans) do share the same passion for films," Gordon said. "The screenings are sold out and you've got tens of thousands of people queuing to get tickets."

The director is currently working on "Crossing the Line", a documentary about four U.S. soldiers who defected to North Korea in the 1960s. Among other projects being considered by Gordon is a documentary about the Red Devils, the South Korean cheering squad during the 2002 World Cup. "It'll be great to have been able to do a film about '66 North and then 2002 South".

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