Irish Film Institute -THE LOVERS AND THE DESPOT

THE LOVERS AND THE DESPOT

Director: ROSS ADAM, ROBERT CANNAN

94 mins, UK, 2016, Digital, Subtitled


This film was released 30th September 2016, and is no longer screening.

★★★★★ The Nerdist

★★★★ The Guardian

EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI

The history of Hollywood is replete with bizarre tales, but for sheer strangeness few can match the one recounted in this gripping documentary that illuminates a dark chapter of Korean cinema lore. In 1978 North Korean dictator (and movie buff) Kim Jong-il kidnapped a famed South Korean celebrity couple – Shin Sang-ok, South Korea’s most prolific and esteemed film director and the head of a busy studio, and actress Choi Eun-hee, the lead in many of his films – hoping their star wattage would invigorate his burgeoning moviemaking empire.

As prisoners the couple made eight films together under Kim’s strict supervision before attempting a daring cloak-and-dagger escape to the west. A seamless blend of interview, recreation and archival footage, The Lovers and The Despot features rare recordings of the dictator, secretly taped by the captive lovers.

Don’t forget we now schedule weekly.

Book Tickets

}