''Seoul Train'' is a 2004 documentary film that deals with the dangerous journeys of

North Korean defectors Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are re ...

fleeing through or to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. These journeys are both dangerous and daring, since if caught, they face forced repatriation, torture, and possible execution. ''Seoul Train'' has been broadcast on television around the world, including on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

series ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Ho ...

''. In January 2007, ''Seoul Train'' was awarded the Alfred I. duPont – Columbia University Silver Baton for excellence in broadcast journalism. In April 2007, "Seoul Train" was named runner-up in the

National Journalism Awards The Scripps Howard Awards, formerly the National Journalism Awards are $10,000 awards in American journalism given by the Scripps Howard Foundation. As of 2022, the categories are: * Excellence in Coverage of Breaking News * Excellence in Broad ...

.
The film was produced, directed, and filmed by Jim Butterworth, a technology entrepreneur in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

in the United States, and Lisa Sleeth of

Incite Productions Incite Productions, or Incite Productions Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit documentary production company based in Boulder, Colorado. It is the producer of Seoul Train, the critically acclaimed PBS documentary on North Korea North Korea, ...

. It was co-directed and edited by

Aaron Lubarsky Aaron Lubarsky is a documentary filmmaker known for his work on the HBO documentary '' Journeys with George'', the PBS documentary ''Seoul Train'' and '' Sportsfan''. After graduation from Stanford University's Documentary Film Program, he w ...

, a documentary filmmaker in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Awards

* 2007 Alfred I. duPont – Columbia University Awards — Silver Baton for excellence in broadcast journalism (broadcast equivalent of the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

). * 2007

— Runner-up, Jack R. Howard award for excellence in electronic media/TV-cable. * 2006 INPUT: International Public Television Screening Conference (Taipei, Taiwan) * 2005 ONE WORLD – Priština Film Festival (Priština, Kosovo) — Winner, Jury Award for Best Film. * 2005 Libertas – Dubrovnik Film Festival (Dubrovnik. Croatia) ** Winner, Audience Award for Best Film. ** Winner, Jury Award for Best Documentary. * 2005 Crested Butte Reel Fest (Crested Butte, CO) ** Winner, Audience Award for Best Film. ** Winner, Silver Award (Jury) for Best Documentary. * 2005 Brooklyn International Film Festival (Brooklyn, NY) — Winner, Independent Spirit Award (Jury). * 2005 Jackson Hole Film Festival (Jackson Hole, WY) — Winner, Best Global Insight Film (Jury). * 2005

Artivist Film Festival The Artivist Film Festival & Awards is an international film festival and awards ceremony dedicated to recognizing activist efforts of filmmakers, specifically in the areas of human rights, child advocacy, environmental preservation, and animal ri ...

(Los Angeles, CA) — Winner, Jury Award for Best Human Rights Documentary * 2005 Texas Film Festival — Winner, Audience Award for Best Documentary. * 2005 Milan International Film Festival (Milan, Italy) — Winner, Jury Award for Best Editing. * 2005 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival — Finalist, Jury Award for Best Short Documentary * 2005 Boulder International Film Festival (Boulder, CO) — Winner, Jury Award for Best Documentary. * 2004 Ft. Lauderdale Int’l Film Festival (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) — Winner, Jury Award for Best Documentary.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0402492, Seoul Train
PBS's "Independent Lens" website about "Seoul Train"

Ironweed Films' article on "Seoul Train"

''Wall Street Journal'' review on "Seoul Train"

2004 films 2004 documentary films American documentary films American independent films Documentary films about China Documentary films about North Korea Documentary films about human rights Documentary films about refugees Biographical documentary films Documentary films about children Films set in China Films set in North Korea Films set in South Korea Films set in Seoul Films set in Poland 2000s Mandarin-language films 2000s Korean-language films Polish-language films Human rights in North Korea Films about North Korean defectors 2000s English-language films 2000s American films

Awards

See also

References

External links