Film Screening:

A Schoolgirl's Diary
(In Hak Jang, 2007, 94 min, North Korea, Korean with English subtitles, color, DVD)

One of the few films from North Korea to be distributed in the West. A gently sketched tale of a rebellious teenager, exasperated by her overworked parents and the boredom of life in the North Korean countryside, A Schoolgirl's Diary is significant in being the first time that life under Kim Jong-il's regime has been represented in commercial cinema.

Su-ryeon, fed up with the simple country life, longs for the cosmopolitan, apartment-living lifestyle of the city. Frustrated and dissatisfied, Su-ryeon lashes out at her parents and her older sister, but coming events will give her perspective on her situation. Features North Korean soccer star Kim Jin-mi as Su-ryeon's tomboyish older sister.

This comedy-drama debuted at the 2006 Pyongyang Film Festival in North Korea, as one of two films produced domestically that year, and was released in France at the end of 2007.

Transnational North Korea: Migration and Urbanization

Curated by Prof. Nayoung Aimee Kwon, this film series will feature seven films Jan 23-April 4 and an all-day workshop on April 5. The series and workshop consider representations of North Korea framed in broader historical and geopolitical contexts of Northeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific.

[ Cine-East series website ]

Cost: Free and Open to the Public!

Sponsors: At Duke: Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (AMES), Asian/Pacific Studies Institute (APSI), Franklin Humanities Institute (FHI), Duke University Center for International Studies (DUCIS), Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute (DHRC@FHI), Women's Studies Program, Literature, the Korea Forum, and Duke East Asia Nexus (DEAN). At UNC: the Carolina Asia Center, Center for Global Initiatives, Asian Studies, Global Cinema Minor Program, and the Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense.