North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un is the world’s youngest dictator, ruling the world’s most repressive state. Through unique undercover material, director and producer James Jones reveals cracks in the regime and investigates the impact the information revolution has had in North Korea.
Jones follows Japanese journalist Jiro Ishimaru, who has been training undercover cameramen in North Korea for fifteen years. On his latest trip to the border with China, he secretly meets one of his agents and receives new undercover footage revealing the harsh reality of every day life on the other side of the border. The footage shows starving homeless children and the elite driving the latest Mercedes in Pyongyang.
We also meet Mr Chung – posing as a mushroom farmer, he smuggles USB sticks and DVDs of South Korean soap operas and entertainment shows into the North. Through these activities, Kim Jong Un can no longer keep the world from seeing the reality of life in North Korea – and just as importantly, he can’t stop his own people from discovering what the outside world is really like.
Photo by Daily NK
Directed and produced by James Jones
Duration: 48′
Year: 2013
This preview screening is in partnership with Dispatches, Channel 4’s investigative current affairs programme.
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From finding yourself in the midst of a civil war to working undercover in an Indian brothel, join us for this one-day workshop that will introduce you to life as an investigative journalist.
Whether you have experience in the field, are looking to start out, or simply have a critical mind, this session will give you the tools to help set up an investigation; from filing a Freedom of Information request to being aware of ethical implications.
Importantly, it will also teach you how to have one of the most interesting jobs in the world and how to survive doing it.
The workshop will be led by award-winning investigative journalist Iain Overton. Overton has conducted investigations into areas that include counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical industry, UK deaths in custody, corporate killings in Iraq, and Glasgow gang-land murders linked to security contracts. His work has been recognised with a Peabody Award, two Amnesty International Awards, a OneWorld Award, a Prix Circom, a BAFTA Scotland and 3 RTS nominations, amongst others.
Overton is currently the Director of Investigations at the international organisation Action on Armed Violence.
Here’s what participants had to say about Overton‘s workshop at the club earlier this year:
“It was worth the trip from Germany!”
“A fabulous day.”
“Very good, thanks!”
“A great op, thank you.”
Schedule:
10:00 – 11:30am: The Crisis of Investigative Journalism
11:30 – 11:45am: Break
11:45 – 1:15pm: Tools of the Trade: Forensic, FOI, Data, Sources
1:15 – 2:15pm: Break
2:15 – 3:45pm: Undercover: Practicalities, Ethics & Experiences
3:45 – 4:00pm: Break
4:00 – 5:30pm: How to survive as an Investigative Journalist
Attendees will need to bring writing materials and/or laptop. Tea and coffee will be provided throughout the day.
Image courtesy of Iain Overton.
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