Why I Left Both Koreas (2017)

(0) based on 0 votes
This documentary sheds light on the lives of North Korean defectors in Europe. North Korean defectors who crossed the ideological boundary over to South Korea are often called forth to bear witness to the plight of North Korean society. Rather than creating a discourse about the recovery of divided culture, the focus has been very much on the conflict of ideology. The increasing number of North Korean defectors is a sign of victory. However, the film testifies that a growing number of people are leaving both Koreas behind.
Directors
Release Date
Nov 03, 2017
Runtime
01h 30m
Actors
Genre
Available in streaming on
For now, we have not found any platform that offers this movie in streaming...

This documentary sheds light on the lives of North Korean defectors in Europe. North Korean defectors who crossed the ideological boundary over to South Korea are often called forth to bear witness to the plight of North Korean society. Rather than creating a discourse about the recovery of divided culture, the focus has been very much on the conflict of ideology. The increasing number of North Korean defectors is a sign of victory. However, the film testifies that a growing number of people are leaving both Koreas behind.

Movies like Why I Left Both Koreas

Beyond Utopia

A courageous pastor uses his underground network to rescue and aid North Korean families as they risk their lives to embrace freedom.
Search similar movies
7.6
Beyond+Utopia
Beyond Utopia

2023

Search similar movies
Propaganda

An anti-western propaganda film about the influences of American visual and consumption culture on the rest of the world, as told from a North Korean perspective.
Search similar movies
8.1
Propaganda
Propaganda

2013

Search similar movies
Ryeohaeng

A group of women climbs a summer mountain situated in South Korea. They are refugees who have settled into South Korean society after fleeing from North Korea. For them, climbing the mountains has been an unavoidable journey for survival - a matter of life and death.
Search similar movies
Ryeohaeng
I Am Sun Mu

Operating under a pseudonym which means 'no boundaries' - North Korean defector Sun Mu creates political pop art based on his life, homeland, and hope for a future united Korea. His hidden identity is nearly compromised when a massive historical exhibit in Beijing is shuttered by Chinese and North Korean authorities.
Search similar movies
6.6
I+Am+Sun+Mu
I Am Sun Mu

2015

Search similar movies
North Korea: All the Dictator's Men

North Korea has nuclear weapons. How did it manage to get them quietly? Donald Trump is under the impression that as US president he could convince Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, to disarm his nuclear weapons and make peace with South Korea. But how was it possible that one of the poorest countries in the world could acquire the knowledge to produce nuclear-tipped rockets?
Search similar movies
7.1
North+Korea%3A+All+the+Dictator%27s+Men
North Korea: All the Dictator's Men

2018

Search similar movies
Mrs. B., a North Korean Woman

Portrait of Mrs. B., a tough charismatic North Korean woman who smuggles between North Korea, China and South Korea. With the money she gets, she plans to reunite with her two North Korean sons after years of separation.
Search similar movies
6.1
Mrs.+B.%2C+a+North+Korean+Woman
Mrs. B., a North Korean Woman

2017

Search similar movies
Shadow Flowers

Ryun-hee Kim, a North Korean housewife, was forced to come to South Korea and became its citizen against her will. As her seven years of struggle to go back to her family in North Korea continues, the political absurdity hinders her journey back to her loved ones. The life of her family in the North goes on in emptiness, and she fears that she might become someone, like a shadow, who exists only in the fading memory of her family.​
Search similar movies
Shadow+Flowers
Shadow Flowers

2021

Search similar movies
The Rainy Season

A documentary about joys, sorrows, ups, and downs experienced by the civil society activist, Lee Eun Taek.
Search similar movies
5.0
The+Rainy+Season
The Rainy Season

2020

Search similar movies
Fist & Furious

Looking for a new interesting story, VJ reporter Guk-hyun is fascinated with a story of a former detective Gi-man, living a life with a blade in his head for certain reason. Guk-hyun convinces Gi-man to take him upon condition that he make a record of Gi-man's revenge on Tae-hwa, the head of drug cartel. While searching for Tae-hwa's whereabouts, they decide to head towards unknown Island where Tae-hwa is expected to be staying.
Search similar movies
7.1
Fist+%26+Furious
Fist & Furious

2019

Search similar movies
In Our Prime

Ji-woo, an outcast at a prestigious private school, meets Hak-sung, the school janitor who is actually a mathematical genius who defected from North Korea.
Search similar movies
8.0
In+Our+Prime
In Our Prime

2022

Search similar movies
One Summer Night

In the winter of 2013, Yong-jun and Jae-sung, a member of the Korean People’s Army, are caught having sex by a superior. After that, Yong-jun decides to defect from North Korea to the South leaving Jae-sung behind. Yong-jun risks his life to step on the land of freedom and meets Tae-kyu. Two years after, Jae-sung comes over to the South, and Yong-jun must decide between Jae-sung and Tae-kyu. This causes misunderstandings and puts them in pain.
Search similar movies
6.8
One+Summer+Night
One Summer Night

2016

Search similar movies
Dooman River

Chang-ho, 12, becomes friends with a North-Korean immigrant about the same age who just crossed the Dooman river, border between North-Korea and China. His mute sister and his wise grandfather accompany him through a series of misfortunes.
Search similar movies
6.1
Dooman+River
Dooman River

2010

Search similar movies
The Journals of Musan

North Korean defector Seung-chul is a refugee living on the harsh edges of Seoul. Bewildered by exploitative employers and cynical urbanites, he’s no good for business. A powerful realism underscores this prize-winning feature debut about the struggle to survive in a strange new world.
Search similar movies
6.7
The+Journals+of+Musan
The Journals of Musan

2010

Search similar movies
Crossing

Yong-soo is an ex-soccer player who lives in a small coal-mine village in North Korea with his wife and young son, Joon. Although living in extreme poverty like many other families in North Korea, the family is happy just to be with each other. Then one day, Yong-soo's pregnant wife becomes critically ill. Let alone medicine, Yong-soo can't even find food for her in North Korea. So he decides to secretly cross the border to China hoping to find the medicine for his wife.
Search similar movies
7.1
Crossing
Poongsan

Poongsan has the unenviable - and death-defying - job of delivering messages across the North and South Korean border to separated families. When South Korean government agents ask him to smuggle in In-ok, the lover of a high-ranking North Korean defector, into the South, the damsel and rescuer fall in love instead.
Search similar movies
6.2
Poongsan
My Name Is Loh Kiwan

After defecting from North Korea, Loh Kiwan struggles to obtain refugee status in Belgium, where he encounters a dejected woman who has lost all hope.
Search similar movies
7.4
My+Name+Is+Loh+Kiwan
My Name Is Loh Kiwan

2024

Search similar movies
3670

Despite having friends as close as brothers among felow defectors, Cheol-jun— a young North Korean defector—always felt isolated, forced to hide his true gay identity. But for the first time in his life, he summons the courage to step into South Korea’s vibrant gay community. After meeting Yeong-jun at a casual drinking gathering, Cheol-jun quickly finds his footing and forms deep bonds with his new peers. Yet, a single, trivial misunderstanding soon sends shockwaves through these delicate, fragile relationships, threatening the community he’s come to cherish.
Search similar movies
3670
48m

Ap-lok river flows between North Korea and China. A point along the river runs about 48 meters. There, North Koreans risk their lives by trying to cross the river. Real stories of those people who attempt to cross the river are told.
Search similar movies
6.0
48m
Fighter

After a few months of social adjustment training, the North Korean refugee Jina moves to a small studio in Seoul and starts her new life. To bring her father to South Korea, she needs money but no matter how hard she works, the discrimination doesn’t let her save enough money.
Search similar movies
6.5
Fighter
Stateless Things

Jun, a young man of North Korean origin who had illegally emigrated to South Korea, works in a gas station. After protecting a colleague, Sun-hee, a Chinese immigrant of Korean ethnicity, Jun gets fired. When he goes back to the station for his pay, Jun hits the boss and he runs away with Sun-hee. Two young outsiders have a great time exploring the city which they had never seen before. Hyeon is a young homosexual and he is living in his sugar-daddy’s luxury apartment. Hyeon sometimes feels suffocated with his situation. These two finally find each other through an internet site, with disastrous results.
Search similar movies
5.3
Stateless+Things
Stateless Things

2012

Search similar movies
The Net

A poor North Korean fisherman finds himself an accidental defector, and is groomed to be a spy by an ambitious South Korean military officer.
Search similar movies
7.4
The+Net
Over the Border

After learning that his grandfather is alive and living in Seoul, a North Korean musician must leave his fiancee behind and accompany his family to South Korea.
Search similar movies
6.0
Over+the+Border
Over the Border

2006

Search similar movies
Beautiful Days

At the request of his dying father, Zhenchen, a Chinese student, goes to Seoul in search of his mother, whom he has not seen for fourteen years. He soon discovers that she is working as a hostess in a bar…
Search similar movies
6.8
Beautiful+Days
Beautiful Days

2018

Search similar movies
Escape

After completing his required decade of military service and being honored as a hero, a North Korean sergeant makes a sudden shocking attempt to defect to the South, risking life and limb for the chance to finally determine his own destiny.
Search similar movies
7.3
Escape
The Suspect

Betrayed and on the run, a former North Korean agent tries to seek revenge on the man who killed his wife, find his missing daughter, and uncover the secrets hidden inside the eyeglasses of a dead man.
Search similar movies
6.8
The+Suspect
The Suspect

2013

Search similar movies
Apostle

In a small North Korean village near the border of China, there are believers who get together in an underground church, away from the eyes of the persecuting government. When the missionary from China, their only support route, is cut off, things begin to get very tense. Chulho, who had been arrested along with his wife, returns. After losing his wife in the interrogations, Chulho had been released and unseen for 2 years before coming back to his home, claiming that he had been commanded by God to lead the believers across the border and into South Korea. The brothers wonder if Chulho is trustworthy, and whether it is the right thing to do to leave their homeland.
Search similar movies
4.0
Apostle
A Tour Guide

Making use of her Chinese that she had picked up while living in China, Han-young obtains her tour guide-interpreter's license and starts working as a guide in Korea. She gets used to her new surroundings and gains good results at work. However, she is forced to face challenges and changes as she loses touch with her brother In-hyuk, and the number of Chinese tourists decreases due to political tension between Korean and China.
Search similar movies
5.7
A+Tour+Guide
A Tour Guide

2023

Search similar movies
Dreamer

The North Korean defector, who has just settled in the South, is confused by his brother who was separated from the defection process. Ji-hyeok, a Chinese restaurant deliveryman who is having a hard time finding a job due to his criminal record, wants to leave Korea as soon as possible. To raise money for his defector brother, Ji-hyeok, who is involved in a dangerous drug-transport errand, suggests intercepting billions of won of methamphetamine.
Search similar movies
5.0
Dreamer
From the New World

After losing her son while defecting from North Korea, Myung-sun meets a fellow defector, Sin-tek, who is the leader of the Church of the Fire. Through him, Myung-sun begins to learn about the doctrines of resurrection as they settle at a small town in South Korea.
Search similar movies
5.0
From+the+New+World
From the New World

2023

Search similar movies
Sunshine

Sul-ji, exiled from North Korea 2 years ago, is cheerful lady who is working at flower shop. Using her experience that drew propaganda paintings in North Korea, she draws wall-painting for part-timer. Desperate Broadcast producer Shin-woong, discovers her and trying to make hit documentary about her, but she hesitates minding her families still in North. Eventually she decides to go in under the condition that she hides her identity.
Search similar movies
5.5
Sunshine
Crazy Love

Jung-ho, the former South Korean undercover hid in North for 20 years. When he finally flees back to South, his dead wife starts to appear and haunts his memory. Tracing back his faint memory he looks for his old colleagues who are supposed to return to South but they’re all missing or dead. 20 years ago Jung-ho got a mission to help North Korean officer and his family to exile to South. However the operation failed and this made him have an irrevocable decision. The secret past that Jung-ho never wants to reveal is about to come out 20 years later in the South.
Search similar movies
5.0
Crazy+Love
Crazy Love

2019

Search similar movies
The Uncondemned

In 1997, a group of lawyers and activists prosecuted rape as a crime against humanity. This is the story of their fight for the first conviction.
Search similar movies
7.0
The+Uncondemned
The Uncondemned

2016

Search similar movies
Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana

Florida, 1994. Artist Mike Diana is convicted on an obscenity charge in the wake of an undercover police officer purchasing his limited edition zine Boiled Angel. Here is the very unusual story of what led to this First Amendment debacle happening for the first time in the United States.
Search similar movies
7.8
Boiled+Angels%3A+The+Trial+of+Mike+Diana
Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana

2018

Search similar movies
Operation Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot to Kill Hitler

July, 1944. As WWII raged on, a group of conspirators, led by Claus von Stauffenberg, plotted to assassinate Hitler and end his reign of terror. Using rare color footage, painstakingly recreated dramatizations, detailed CG reconstructions and exclusive interviews with leading historians, this thrilling documentary presents the definitive record of what happened before, during and after these pivotal events.
Search similar movies
6.2
Operation+Valkyrie%3A+The+Stauffenberg+Plot+to+Kill+Hitler
Operation Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot to Kill Hitler

2008

Search similar movies
Plastic Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys

Plastic Galaxy explores the ground breaking and breathtaking world of 'Star Wars' toys. Through interviews with former Kenner employees, experts, authors, and collectors, the documentary looks at the toys' history, influence, and the passions they elicit today.
Search similar movies
6.8
Plastic+Galaxy%3A+The+Story+of+Star+Wars+Toys
Plastic Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys

2014

Search similar movies
We Come as Friends

As war-ravaged South Sudan claims independence from North Sudan and its brutal President, Omar al-Bashir, a tiny, homemade prop plane wings in from France. It is piloted by eagle-eyed documentarian Hubert Sauper, who is mining for stories in a land trapped in the past but careening toward an apocalyptic future.
Search similar movies
6.8
We+Come+as+Friends
We Come as Friends

2014

Search similar movies
Pactes de silenci

Due to the increasing privatization of basic public services in Spain, companies such as BB Serveis are accused of misappropriating several million euros of public money intended to finance care for the elderly and other dependent persons.
Search similar movies
6.0
Pactes+de+silenci
Pactes de silenci

2018

Search similar movies
Verhoeven Versus Verhoeven

A look at the life and provocative film work of controversial Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven.
Search similar movies
6.9
Verhoeven+Versus+Verhoeven
Verhoeven Versus Verhoeven

2016

Search similar movies
Zedd: True Colors

Ride along as Zedd explores new territory with his latest album, 'True Colors,' and get a behind the scenes look at everything from making the album, the most ambitious EDM arena tour in history, and a series of intimate fan experiences you won’t believe.
Search similar movies
6.0
Zedd%3A+True+Colors
Zedd: True Colors

2016

Search similar movies
Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock

BURNING MAN: BEYOND BLACK ROCK goes behind the scenes of a social revolution to explore the philosophy that fuels it, the social contract that drives it, and the transcendent experience that makes it a worldwide cultural force. Granted unprecedented access to the inner workings of the Burning Man organization, the filmmakers spent 18 months with the founders, organizers, artists and participants to document the full complexity and diversity of the Burning Man community. But, true to its title, the film goes beyond the city they raise in the desert - revealing the Burning Man's plans to bring its unique culture to the rest of the world. BEYOND BLACK ROCK tells, for the first time ever, the real story of Burning Man - from the inside out.
Search similar movies
4.2
Burning+Man%3A+Beyond+Black+Rock
Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock

2005

Search similar movies
Marilyn, Her Final Secret

Thanks to DNA, this documentary establishes the identity of Marilyn's biological father, thus revealing her new paternal family, 60 years after the icon's death.
Search similar movies
7.0
Marilyn%2C+Her+Final+Secret
Marilyn, Her Final Secret

2022

Search similar movies
Hummadruz

“Hummadruz” is the scientific term for certain mysterious unidentifiable sounds that come from the earth. They say that especially those who have left their homeland constantly hear these sounds. The first part of this film takes place in the arid land east of Turkey. Memories of a childhood romance, children’s games and laughter, sleeping with an ill mother, are sandwiched with close-up images of eyes wide-open, blood, fear, and tension. The second narrative half tells the story of a man and his infant son who for no apparent reason jump to their death off a bridge on the Bosphorus, and a wife who follows. Dramatizing a true story, the film expresses the desperation and frustration of those who had no choice but to migrate to Istanbul from their beloved homeland.
Search similar movies
Hummadruz
Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest

Transcending cultural barriers and consistently going against the grain, female Nepali climber Pasang Lhamu Sherpa attempted to summit Everest four times in the early nineties. Although she was not allowed to attend school as a child, Pasang did not let that stop her from pursuing her dreams. After founding her own trekking company in Kathmandu, she blazed a trail for Nepali women via her efforts to summit Everest. Proving how big you can dream and how far you can go to achieve those dreams, she left a legacy not only for the family she has left behind, but for the myriad women following in her footsteps.
Search similar movies
Pasang%3A+In+the+Shadow+of+Everest
Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest

2024

Search similar movies
Cracked Up

In Cracked Up we witness the effects adverse childhood experiences can have across a lifetime through the incredible story of actor, comedian, master impressionist and Saturday Night Live veteran, Darrell Hammond. Behind the scenes Darrell suffered from debilitating flashbacks, self injury, addiction and misdiagnosis, until the right doctor isolated the key to unlocking the memories his brain kept locked away for over 50 years. Cracked Up, director Michelle Esrick, creates an inspiring balance between comedy and tragedy helping us understand the impact of toxic stress and childhood trauma in a new light, breaking down barriers of stigma and replacing shame with compassion and hope.
Search similar movies
7.2
Cracked+Up
Cracked Up

2019

Search similar movies
The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean's "American Pie"

With a narrative running deeper than a catchy tune and cryptic verses, “American Pie” is a musical phenomenon woven deep into the history of American culture, entertaining audiences around the world for over 50 years. This documentary tells the stories of the people who were a part of this moment from the beginning, shows the point of view of a new generation of artists who are motivated by the same values and ideas that inspired the song’s creation, and highlights cultural moments in America’s history that are as relevant now as they were in 1971, when the song was released.
Search similar movies
5.4
The+Day+the+Music+Died%3A+The+Story+of+Don+McLean%27s+%27American+Pie%27
The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean's "American Pie"

2022

Search similar movies
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex front-woman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey through her mother's archives in this intimate documentary.
Search similar movies
6.7
Poly+Styrene%3A+I+Am+a+Clich%C3%A9
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

2021

Search similar movies
Expedition Happiness

A German couple and their dog travel across North America in a school bus searching for a state of pure bliss.
Search similar movies
6.4
Expedition+Happiness
Expedition Happiness

2017

Search similar movies
21 Years: Richard Linklater

A journey through the professional life of innovative film director Richard Linklater: 21 years creating films, carving his signature in pop culture; an analysis of his style and motivations, through the funny and moving testimonies of close friends and collaborators, actors and other filmmakers.
Search similar movies
6.2
21+Years%3A+Richard+Linklater
21 Years: Richard Linklater

2014

Search similar movies
Hysterical

An honest and hilarious backstage pass into the lives of some of stand-up comedy’s most boundary-breaking women, exploring the hard-fought journey to become the voices of their generation and their gender.
Search similar movies
6.4
Hysterical
Hysterical

2021

Search similar movies