NORTH KOREAN LABOR CAMPS from Vice News

      North Korea has come up with a new way to bring cold hard cash into its isolated country: export North Korean workers to slave away in the Siberian forest (often without telling them they're no longer in North Korea). We set out to investigate these camps and almost landed ourselves in quite a bit of trouble.

Founder of VICE Shane Smith spends an eternity on a train and hops out at the end of the line in Siberia to investigate logging camps that use North Korean slave labor.

While on his way to uncover labor camps setup by Kim Jong Il and North Korea as a way to bring in hard currency for their impoverished nation, Shane Smith gets re-accustomed with how to handle Russian alcoholics aboard the trans-Siberian railway.

After many days on trains and much vodka Shane arrives in Tynda but has to dodge the Russian secret police – the FSB. After sidestepping the authorities and boarding a single carriage train to the middle of nowhere Shane arrives at a Nortth Korean labor camp.

Accompanied by the former chief of police Shane and Simon break into a disbanded North Korean labor camp to explore the propaganda and the “Laboratory of Kim Jong Il”. On their way out with their arms full of “memorabilia” Shane and Simon fear that they’ve been caught but end up being introduced to a real North Korean labor worker by two Russian scrap metal dealers.

Shane and Simon head off to Tataul and link up with a member of the local mafia known as “The Fish”. From there they drive out into the forest and into an active North Korean labor camp in the middle of Siberia where they meet North Korean workers who inadvertently admit that living conditions back in their homeland were tough- something that would never of be mentioned back in their police-state.

More adventures in the middle of nowhere; Shane and Simon are introduced to more North Korean workers by their gold-teethed guide. Here they find out that many workers are being stationed in the camps for upto 10 years but the conversation halts when the managers or the logging camp arrive.

The FSB (Russian secret police), North Korean secret police and the local militia all decide to find out what Shane has been getting upto, so the only logical thing to do is make a run for the border.

(source=http://www.vice.com/vice-news/north-korean-labor-camps-full-length)

THE VICE GUIDE TO NORTH KOREA

Vice founder Shane Smith managed to get into North Korea after a year and half of trying and is witness to the craziness of this hermit nation.
Crazy is actually kind of an understatement. Made before North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died, his 25 yr old son now leads.

Getting into North Korea was one of the hardest and weirdest processes VBS has ever dealt with.

From the authors: After we went back and forth with their representatives for months, they finally said they were going to allow 16 journalists into the country to cover the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang.

Then, ten days before we were supposed to go, they said, No, nobody can come. Then they said, OK, OK, you can come. But only as tourists. We had no idea what that was supposed to mean. They already knew we were journalists, and over there if you get caught being a journalist when you’re supposed to be a tourist you go to jail.

We don’t like jail. And we’re willing to bet we’d hate jail in North Korea. But we went for it. The first leg of the trip was a flight into northern China.

At the airport, the North Korean consulate took our passports and all of our money, then brought us to a restaurant. We were sitting there with our tour group, and suddenly all the other diners left and these women came out and started singing North Korean nationalist songs.

We were thinking, Look, we were just on a plane for 20 hours. We’re jet-lagged. Can we just go to bed? but this guy with our group who was from the LA Times told us, Everyone in here besides us is secret police. If you don’t act excited then you’re not going to get your visa.

So we got drunk and jumped up on stage and sang songs with the girls. The next day we got our visas. A lot of people we had gone with didn’t get theirs. That was our first hint at just what a freaky, freaky trip we were embarking on.

THE VICE GUIDE TO NORTH KOREA - PART 1

THE VICE GUIDE TO NORTH KOREA - PART 2

THE VICE GUIDE TO NORTH KOREA - PART 3

Propaganda

         On a trip to visit family in Seoul in April, I was approached by a man and a woman who claimed to be North Korean defectors. They presented me with a DVD that recently came into their possession and asked me to translate it. They also asked me to post the completed film on the Internet so that it could reach a worldwide audience. I believed what I was told and an agreement was made to protect their identities (and mine).

Despite my concerns about what I was viewing when I returned home, I proceeded to translate and post the film on You Tube because of the film’s extraordinary content. I have now made public my belief that this film was never intended for a domestic audience in the DPRK. Instead, I believe that these people, who presented themselves as ‘defectors’ specifically targeted me because of my reputation as a translator and interpreter.

Furthermore, I now believe these people work for the DPRK. The fact that I have continued to translate and post the film in spite of this belief does not make me complicit in their intention to spread their ideology. I chose to keep posting this film because – regardless of who made it – I believe people should see it because of the issues it raises and I stand by my right to post it for people to share and discuss freely with each other.

According to Sabine the above is the formal statement she gave to Federal Police on 16 June 2012.

Sabine: I have translated this film, laid in the English voice over and subtitles, and on legal advice have blurred the identity of the presenter and/or blacked out certain elements.

(source=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/propaganda/)

Watch the full documentary now

 North Korea kidnapped filmmakers, chefs, and others in the late 70s/early 80s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Sang-ok

Lego Art (more coming..)

Comedy pART 2 (more coming)

stereotypes=expectations, I asked the class what they thought about stereotypes, if satire still reenforces stereotypes?

breaking expectations is a comedic device!

http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/milesgl/comicdvs.htm

http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/film/lessonplan2.html

We have all become paranoid weird0s like Richard Nixon!

      Here is Adam Curtis's short mini doc on the psyche of Richard Nixon and how modern journalism has by accident made us all a little like him. This was made for Charlie Brookers Newswipe.


To see more Adam Curtis documentaries go here http://www.rewtube.com/

Filmmaking used to announce,inform & explain

A gun that shoots salts and kills flies!!

Its like a shotgun that fires salt
After I personally contacted the maker this is what he sent me "Our indiegogo page went viral because of it--we raised $28,000 on our campaign in the last 24 hours. We'd be thrilled to send you one of our Limited Edition (signed) BugASalt guns (there are only 50, so hold onto it!) and a regular one to use and abuse. Where can we send it?
If there are any other blogs you're affiliated with, we'd be grateful for you posting the video elsewhere.

Thanks again,
Lorenzo (Inventor and Owner of BugASalt/SKELL INC.)"