Recruiting Volunteers To Expand Film Screenings

The harrowing personal experience of a young man who successfully escaped from "Camp 14" (Kaechon Political Prison Camp no. 14).

A German director has made a documentary film depicting the harrowing life of a young man who was born and raised in a North Korean political prison camp, and is currently living in South Korea after defecting from North Korea.

The depiction is based on the harrowing experience of Shin Dong-hyuk, who, as a teenager, was the only person to successfully escape from the North Korean political prison "Camp 14" (Kaechon Political Prison Camp no. 14). Prison Camp no. 14 is designated a Total Control Zone, so that even when inmates die, their bodies remain within the prison confines.

Perseverance and Intelligence of Director Marc Wiese

This is the amazing story of Shin Dong-hyuk--and a rare record of some of the very few people who escape from North Korean prison camps.

Director Marc Wiese draws out the story with patience and intelligence, documenting life as a prisoner, the torture, and Shin talking about the death of his mother and brother. Director Wiese is a socially conscious director who has, in the past, taken up the circumstances of various places in the world where human life and human rights are not valued.

Shin Dong-hyuk was born November 19, 1982 as a political prisoner in a North Korean prison camp. His parents were prison inmates who were ordered to marry by the prison wardens.

Camp 14, where Shin spent his childhood and youth, is, in fact, a death camp. From age 6, he was forced into labor, facing starvation, violence, and torture. He was always at the mercy of the prison wardens, and he knew nothing about the world outside the barbed wire fence. Shin believed that everyone lived that way.

At age 23, with the help of an older prisoner, he escaped from the prison. From North Korea, he entered China, and after continuing to flee for months, he arrived in South Korea and encountered a completely strange world.

Leading North Korean Refugees from the Edge of Death

Life Funds for North Korean Refugees is a humanitarian organization that has, so far, led over 300 North Korean refugees from the brink of death to a safety zone. We wish to bring about the end of existing North Korean political prison camps, even if just one day sooner. And we want as many people as possible to know the truth. For this reason, we wish to help promote this documentary film.

Our organization strives in hidden ways for the abolition of camps and the creation of networks to help people who escape from those camps. We are prepared to welcome activists with firm commitment towards volunteering and providing aid. We look forward to your participation.