My Brothers and Sisters in the North

South Korean-born filmmaker Sung-Hyung Cho has created a video diary of life in North Korea. Allowed entry into the country because she carries a German passport—South Korean citizens are barred from visiting the North except with special permission—Cho is taken on an extensive guided tour of the capital city of Pyongyang and a few surrounding areas. On a visit to Baedku Mountain, she has her photo taken with groups of North Korean soldiers and inspects the birthplace of former dictator Kim Jong-il. In Pyongyang, she visits an indoor water park and spends time at the family apartment of a young male employee. Cho also sits in on an elementary school classroom's English lessons, visits a collective farm, and is taken to a garment factory, where she watches female employees engage in a daily calisthenics session. Cho does not provide critical commentary on life in North Korea, but the film offers visual clues: wide streets in Pyongyang conspicuously absent of automobiles, the collective farm's single tractor, a requirement by the water park's staff to bow to a statue of Kim Jong-il prior to their daily duties, and TV propaganda broadcasts that play in an apartment to minimal viewer interest. Although it is a shame that Cho could not have a more honest conversation with her guests, her view of life in North Korea is both timely and insightful. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)