| Juche Strong (19 min) North Korea/South Korea/USA |
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Director/Producer: Rob Montz
Description:
Decades of economic mismanagement have driven most North Koreans into desperate poverty. Furthermore, the ruling Kim family's militarism and nuclear brinkmanship have left the country with few friends in the global community. The film presents the most pernicious misconceptions of North Korea and argues that the propaganda-fueled national ideology has played an integral role in country's survival. The Kim regime has crafted a very specific national ideology designed to tap into the unique cultural and religious heritage of the Korean people. Juche Strong delves into the specifics of that ideology and shows how it instills a collective sense of purpose. "Juche" is North Korea's founding philosophical precept that roughly translates into "self-reliance" – the idea that North Koreans are free from polluting foreign influences and capable of crafting a prosperous nation on their own. The film is based on interviews with over a dozen prominent North Korean scholars, including Bruce Cummings, David Kang, Victor Cha, Stephan Haggard, Marcus Noland and Suk-Young Kim. Juche Strong also includes interviews with a North Korean defector now living in the United States and world-renowned evolutionary psychologist, Jonathan Haidt.
Biography:
Rob Montz is a fellow at the Moving Picture Institute and director of Juche Strong, a documentary examining the North Korean propaganda apparatus. Originally from Los Angeles, Rob has an honors degree in philosophy from Brown University.
Contact Information:
Moving Picture Institute
e: robmontz@gmail.com
w: www.juchestrong.com
