If the best way to gain insight into yourself is to look through the eyes of another, you’re not likely to get a more unique and shocking look at the West-and specifically the US-than by watching this jaw-dropping, mesmerizing and skull-crunching film that was purportedly smuggled out of North Korea by defectors. If you dare, listen to the North Korean equivalent of Noam Chomsky (his face blurred out to protect his identity) as he tells us Americans who we are and what our impact is on the rest of the world. The film works as propaganda on so many levels, it’s easy to imagine yourself in a brainwashing camp in a far off country, with “A Clockwork Orange”-style devices prying your eyes open. And for all that, it’s one of the best made and most interesting films in the festival. In Person: Director Slavko Martinov.
North American Premiere