Rushing to sunshine : Seoul diaries / Ronin Films presents ; produced, directed, written by Solrun Hoaas ; Goshu Films Pty. Ltd.

South Korea's "Sunshine Policy" under President Kim Dae-Jung's presidency has opened up unprecedented business and cultural contact with the communist North. From March 1998 to October 2000 the film follows this process and its many paradoxes, such as the anachronistic National Security Law, which prohibits "praising and encouraging" North Korea, still defined as "an enemy country." Yet South Koreans flock there on tourist cruises. The film gives voice to hopes and aspirations for reunification, as well as anxiety and resistance in a range of people in the South, and reveals changes in attitudes in post-summit Korea.

"RUSHING TO SUNSHINE is a personal essay film that looks at South Korea's uncomfortable but growing acceptance of North Korea over a two year period. Hoaas gains unprecedented access to former political prisoners, student dissidents and others affected by a Government caught between its new open door 'Sunshine Policy' and the remnants of a cold war anti-Communist mindset. The film is a combination of the essay genre and a filmmaker's journey of exploration and probing, to unravel the things that intrigue and puzzle her about Korean society and its engagement with the North. It draws on footage recorded over a period of two years from March 1998 to March 2000 which has been a period of economic upheavel as well as enormous change in Korea, particularly in the relationship to North Korea."--Kanopy website.

Narrated by Solrun Hoaas.

Online resource; title from title frames.