Upwards of 300,000 North Koreans have escaped from their country and are in hiding, hoping to find their way to freedom. The Defector is about their story, as well as the Western humanitarian aid workers who form an international network, a modern underground railroad, to help these fugitives find freedom.

They’ve put well over a year’s research into The Defector, but the film is much more than reportage documentary. With a dramatic approach to story and a signature POV style, The Defector is an unparalleled intimate POV experience that follows 2 sides of the story: Western aid workers and North Korean defectors as their fates collide in the underground railway. There are high stakes for all involved and the emotions and tensions during the journey are dramatic. The production crew of The Defector will film undercover as we delve into why middle-class aid workers would risk their own lives to help North Koreans. The film and interactive website also takes you inside the life of a North Korean who is fleeing the only country, the only reality she has ever known. We gain new insight into what is happening in North Korea, and the new challenges faced by those who leave DPRK today. They also celebrate those who put their lives on the line, the unsung heroes of this modern humanitarian crisis.

The Defector is about this human crisis. It’s a film with a lot of heart, and it’s got guts.

Here’s a few more North Korean related videos: The Man From North Korea, North Korean Refugee Adoption Act, and Resilience.

The Defector: animation trailer

The Defector trailer

Every year thousands of American men go to China to find a bride. The documentary film “Seeking Asian Female” follows an eccentric modern love story about Steven and Sandy – an 60 year old aging white man with “yellow fever” who is obsessed with marrying any Asian woman, and the young 30 year old Chinese bride he finds online. When Steven meets a willful young woman named Sandy from Anhui, China, over the internet and she agrees to migrate to the US to marry him. Fantasy and reality collide in this modern love story.

Told through the lens of Chinese American filmmaker Debbie Lum, who becomes the couple’s reluctant translator and marriage counselor, the film examines the penetrating effect of stereotype and expectations on love and relationships today. Debbie documents and narrates with skepticism and humor, from the early stages of Steven’s search for an Asian bride, through the moment Sandy steps foot in America for the first time, to a year into their precarious union. Global migration, Sino-American relations and the perennial battle of the sexes, weigh in on the fate of their marriage in this intimate and quirky personal documentary. “Seeking Asian Female” is at the intersection of several timely subjects – finding love online, an increasing interest in New China, and what it means to have a race-based dating preference in a supposedly “post-racial” America.

Seeking Asian Female trailer

On March 11, 2011, Japan’s Tohoku coastal region was destroyed by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami that followed. PRAY FOR JAPAN takes place in the devastated region of Ishinomaki, Miyagi – the largest coastal city in Tohoku with a population of over 160,000 people. Filmmaker Stu Levy – an American living in Japan – filmed the tsunami aftermath during his trips to Tohoku as a volunteer and over a period of 6 weeks, captured over 50 hours of footage.

PRAY FOR JAPAN focuses on four key perspectives of the tragedy – School, Shelter, Family, and Volunteers. With each perspective we meet victims who faced significant obstacles and fought to overcome them. Through these four vantage points, the audience is able to understand the vast ramifications of this large-scale natural disaster – and the battle these real-life heroes fought on behalf of their loved ones and their hometown.

PRAY FOR JAPAN features an original theme song written and performed by Okuda Tamio, one of the most popular rock musicians in Japan, as well as poetry written by Fukushima poet Ryoichi Wago and read by famed actress Kyoka Suzuki. The opening animation sequence is directed by Hiroshi Nagahama and produced by prolific Japanese animation powerhouse, Studio DEEN. Post-production services were provided by Q-Tec in Tokyo, Japan.

On March 14, 2012, the film will open in the following markets through AMC Theatres: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Orange County (LA), Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, Washington D.C., Kansas City, Toronto, and Montreal. Hollywood Theatres will also show the film in Maui, Hawaii. All profits from these screenings will be donated to Japan-based charity Japan Emergency NGO (JEN), who provides assistance to victims of natural disasters, wars, and internal conflicts.

Pray for Japan Trailer