Project Detail

The Lovers and the Despot

Synopsis

In the aftermath of the Korean War, ambitious young film director Shin Sang-ok and actress Choi Eun-hee enter into a glamorous romance. They rise to the top of the South Korean film industry and are drawn into the inner circle of dictatorial President Park. Their groundbreaking films become instant sensations. But their movie-world idyll is shattered after Shin has a scandalous affair with another actress and confronts the President over censorship, who retaliates by shutting down his studio. Unable to reconcile, Choi and Shin divorce.
Then their lives take a bizarre turn. Choi is lured to Hong-Kong by the promise of work, but is bundled onto a boat and sedated. After a grueling sea voyage to North Korea she is welcomed ashore by whimsical dictator's son and movie-obsessive, Kim Jong-il, who imprisons her in his summerhouse.
Sundance Film Festival 2016 - World premiere

Details

Year: 2016
Type of film: Features
Running time: 94 mins
Director: Robert Cannan, Ross Adam
Producer: Natasha Dack Ojumu, Robert Cannan, Ross Adam
Executive Producer: Lizzie Francke, Richard Holmes, Nick Fraser, Kate Townsend, Sheryl Crown, Maggie Monteith, Victoria Steventon, Cristina Ljungberg, Sandra Whipham
Editor: Jim Hession
Sound: Sound Designer: Alastair Sirkett
Composer: Nathan Halpern
Principal cast: Shin Sang-ok, Choi Eun-hee

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

A Tigerlily Films, BFI, Creative England, BBC Storyville, Hellflower production

Tigerlily Films

Sales Company

Submarine Deluxe

197 Grand Street 6W
New York
NY 10013
USA

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