Kim Jong-Il Production

“The absurd, harrowing, and true story” of South Korean cinema stars kidnapped by Kim Jong-Il and forced to make movies before their daring escape (Esquire.com).

Before becoming the world’s most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea’s Ministry for Propaganda and its film studios. Underwhelmed by the talent pool available to him, he took drastic steps, ordering the kidnapping of Choi Eun-Hee (Madam Choi)—South Korea’s most famous actress—and her ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, the country’s most famous filmmaker.

When Madam Choi vanished, Shin went to Hong Kong to investigate—where he, too, was abducted. While Choi lived in isolated luxury, Choi was sent to a prison camp and “re-educated.” When the couple was reunited, it was announced that they would remarry and act as the Dear Leader’s film advisors.

Together they made seven films, gaining Kim Jong-Il’s trust in the process. While pretending to research a film in Vienna, they flee to the US embassy and are swept to safety. A nonfiction thriller packed with tension, passion, and politics, A Kim Jong-Il Production offers a rare glimpse into a secretive world, illuminating a fascinating chapter of North Korea’s history that helps explain how it became the hermetically sealed, intensely stage-managed country it is today.