Docs to Watch
Beyond Utopia
A suspenseful, riveting portrait of the lengths people will go to gain freedom, Beyond Utopia follows various individuals as they attempt to flee North Korea. At the film's core is a courageous pastor on a mission to help a mother reunite with the child she was forced to leave behind, and a family of five embarking on a treacherous journey into the hostile mountains of China. Gripping, thrilling, and never more timely, Madeleine Gavin's award-winning film embeds the viewer with the subjects as they attempt their perilous escape, palpably conveying life-or-death stakes.
Presented in English and Korean with English subtitles.
A Q&A with director Madeleine Gavin and producer Rachel Cohen immediately follows the screening.
DIRECTOR
Madeleine Gavin
PRODUCERS
Jana Edelbaum
Rachel Cohen
Sue Mi Terry
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Madeleine Gavin has edited award-winning narrative and documentary films that have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, Berlinale, and Cannes, among others. Gavin directed and edited City of Joy, about a revolutionary center in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Currently in production, her next film is about a group of octogenarians in New York City and their irascible, larger-than-life music coach.