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THE LOVERS AND THE DESPOT

By Robert CANNAN, Ross ADAM

Documentary - Completed 2015

The romance between the debonair film director Shin Sang-ok and glamorous actress Choi Eun-hee took them to the heights of 70's South Korean society. Then they were kidnapped by North Korea, and forced to play along with a a a bizarre filmmaking project led by superfan cinephil Kim Jong-il.

- Year of production
- 2015
- Genres
- Documentary
- Countries
- UNITED KINGDOM
- Languages
- ENGLISH, KOREAN, JAPANESE
- Duration
- 93 mn
- Director(s)
- Robert CANNAN, Ross ADAM
- Producer(s)
- Natasha DACK OJUMU (Tigerlily Films)
- Synopsis
- They were the Brangelina of ’70s South Korea—the romance between the debonair film director Shin Sang-ok and glamorous actress Choi Eun-hee took them to the heights of South Korean society. Fame took a toll on their love, but it also attracted unbelievable twists of fate. The two find themselves kidnapped by the North Korean regime, and they are forced to play along with a bizarre filmmaking project led by superfan cinephile Kim Jong-il. Enduring torture, imprisonment, and surveillance, their romance is rekindled, and they realize escape is only possible through filmmaking—but the smallest mistake in their plans could cost them their lives.