Événement

"North Korea, A Day in the Life/ God Wears My Underwear

North Korea-Dutch filmmaker Pieter Fleury, with the full permission and cooperation of the North Korean government, created this propaganda film that gives us a glimpse of a day in the life of one of the world's most enigmatic societies. If the cityscapes and patriotic anthems of this film seem a far cry from the bleak landscape of Seoul Train, that's no accident. Largely dictated by the North Korean film bureau, A Day in the Life follows the family of Hong Sun Hui, a female worker in a textile factory, through their daily duties, largely dedicated to the pride in the North Korean nation of comrades and the glory of General Kim Jong Il. The film is meant to extol the success of modern North Korea. But does itfi With straight footage and a total absence of narration, viewers may interpret Fleury's film in a slightly different manner than intended. God Wears My Underwear-The story ties the Jewish Holocaust in the 1940's to the genocide in Tibet in the 1950's. It raises issues of sexual identity, reincarnation, human and moral responsibility: universal experiences of the 20th century. Our lead character, Lavinia, has been haunted all of her life by dreams about people and places she has never experienced. As she stands waiting for a train, she sees her childhood and ponders her confusion about her own sexuality. She recalls a past life as a Tibetan Buddhist Monk who visited Berlin in 1933. The monk, Brother Eo, saw the rise of Nazism but did nothing to help friends as they were swept away in the terror. Realizing his mistake, he returned to Tibet only to be massacred a few years later by the invading Chinese Communists. But death did not cleanse guilt. Instead he reincarnates as Lavania and it continues into another lifetime. This fictional film weaves experimental and documentary elements to create a riveting and powerful story. It unfolds through three personal narratives of the same moment in history and evokes the question: Where do memories go after we diefi