Documentary film: ‘Crossing the Arirang Ridge’
Directed by Takashi Ito, 45 minutes, Japan, 2003
Language: Korean with English subtitles
Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), 1998: ‘An officer came into my room and assaulted me. For me, a 16-year-old girl, that was more terrifying than being attacked by a tiger.’ This is what Kwak Kum Nyou, a survivor of sexual slavery under the Japanese military, told the Japanese photojournalist Takashi Ito. He feared that the survivors in North Korea would be forgotten, as their stories were so rarely reported, and so he decided to document Ms Kwak’s life with his camera. Five years later, he visited her at home – but it was her daughter who opened the door, and she said that her mother was not there.
The documentary ‘Crossing the Arirang Ridge’ portrays not only Ms Kwak’s anger and suffering, but also offers profound and little-known insights into her family, along with rare glimpses of everyday life in North Korea.
Director Ito now reports that all 219 victims of the Japanese military’s sexual slave system registered in North Korea have since passed away. Their testimonies remain, and we must never forget the cruelty and inhumanity they experienced and described during their lifetimes.
Doors open: 6.00 pm
Start: 6.30 pm
Admission: free
A discussion will follow the screening.
Venue: Museum der „Trostfrauen”, Quitzowstraße 103, 10551 Berlin
U9 Birkenstraße / S-Bahn Westhafen
Organized by AG „Trostfrauen” at Korea Verband e.V. and Japanische Fraueninitiative Berlin