Synopsis
Today, there are an estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living underground in China. They escaped a food crisis and other persecutions at home that have claimed the lives of approximately 3 million in the past 10 years. Seoul Train is the gripping documentary exposé into the life and death of North Koreans as they try to escape their homeland and China. The film not only unfolds the stories of North Korean defectors, but also delves into the complex geopolitics behind this growing and potentially explosive humanitarian crisis. Those who flee from North Korea face another obstacle in China, as if crossing the border was not hard enough; Chinese government systematically arrests and forcibly repatriates hundreds of these refugees each month. For a lucky few refugees, however, there is hope. A group of multinational activists has created an Underground Railroad. Via a network of safe houses and escape routes, the activists—at great personal risk—help the refugees on the escapes to freedom. In order to capture the essence and urgency of the current crisis, the film follows actual refugee groups from their arrival in China. By combining vérité footage, personal stories and interviews with experts and government officials, Seoul Train depicts the flouting of international laws by major countries, the inaction and bureaucracy of the United Nations, and the heroics of activists that put themselves in harm’s way to save the refugees.
Director
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Lisa SleethLisa Sleeth is a founder and principal of Incite Productions. She is highly skilled and experienced in working with NGO personnel, with refugees, and in unsecured, volatile areas -
Jim ButterworthJim Butterworth has served as a judge for the Emmy awards and for several international film festivals. He is a founder and chairman of Incite Productions, a nonprofit that produces documentaries promoting positive social change around the world. -
Aaron LubarskyAaron Lubarsky is a critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker whose work has screened at numerous festivals and theaters, such as Prime Time Emmy Awards, IDA, Student Academy Award and San Francisco Film Festival, and has screened on broadcast TV worldwide. Aaron has also worked as an editor at LucasFilm.
Lookalike (2004)
Journeys with George (2003)
Uncle Eugene (2001)
Wayne Freedman’s Notebook (1998)
Credits
- Director Lisa Sleeth, Jim Butterworth, Aaron Lubarsky
- Producer Lisa Sleeth, Jim Butterworth
- Cinematographer Lisa Sleeth and Jim Butterworth
- Editor Aaron Lubarsky
- Music David Harris
Production Company
- Production Company Incite Productions Inc.
- Tel 1 917 385 1024
- Email info@seoultrain.com
Distributor/World Sales
- Distributor/World Sales Films Transit International Inc
- Address 252 Gouin Boulevard East Montreal, Quebec H3L 1A8, Canada
- Tel 1 514 844 3358
- Fax 1 514 844 7298
- Email office@filmstransit.com