Sponsored by Sony
Ahn Chol
WINNER : Features
North
Korean
"Children of the Secret State"
Shot 1998/99
Asia Press Collective Osaka / Hardcash Productions
/Channel 4 TV
"I carried a small bag with a hole with a camera inside. I
cannot express with words how scared I was. I felt as though the police
and security agents were following me and constantly watching me. I could
almost hear the beating of my own heart." Ahn Chol
Judges'
Quote "…. this is enormous bravery, and the pictures of the
children are truly original, and heartbreaking."
Ahn Chol is a pseudonym. It veils the identity of a young North Korean refugee whose secret filming has provided the outside world with a unique insight into the realities of life in North Korea, the world's most secret state. His pictures showed the world for the first time how starving orphans roam the open-air markets, drinking from fetid puddles, and scavenging through garbage in search of anything edible.
Five years ago, on the Chinese border, Ahn Chol met a Japanese cameraman with Asia Press Collective who trained him and gave him video equipment. He began to film undercover in his homeland. Every six months or so, he would make the perilous trip back across the border to pick up new stock and hand over his rushes. Two years ago, after both his parents died of starvation, Ahn Chol crossed the river into China in order to survive. He describes this: "One day in October two years ago, I hid in the bush near the Yalu River until 4 in the morning. Arrangements had been already made with a certain North Korean border guard. With a knapsack on my head that contained a camera and shabby North Korean clothes, I waded across the river in my underpants as he signalled to me with a cigarette lighter."
Ahn Chol continued to film undercover, making secret and dangerous trips back into North Korea. Travelling without a proper identity card, he slept outdoors or stayed with peasants.
In filming secretly, Ahn Chol has risked - and continues to risk - his life. He is said to be one of Kim Jong Il's most-wanted men and has been hunted by both the Chinese and the North Korean authorities. Kim Jong Il has threatened to have him tortured and put to death. He says: "I live in constant fear. I am sometimes overwhelmed with grief and I just want to cry when I think of the situation in North Korea."
Extract from Newsweek interview with Hideko Takayama, September 27, 1999
"HT: Going back to the North meant risking your life. Why did you do that?
Ahn: I crossed the river into China two years ago to survive after both my parents died of starvation. Ever since I arrived, I have learned so much about the rest of the world. Here, people live fairly well. In North Korea, people suffer, starve, struggle and roam around looking for food. I began to feel very strongly that it was my mission to return and bring back a film to show the rest of the world how North Korea really looks from inside.
It was my idea to cross the river again. A Japan-based human-rights group provided me with video equipment. One day in October last year, I hid in the bush near the Yalu River until 4 in the morning. Arrangements had been already made with a certain North Korean border guard. With a knapsack on my head that contained a camera and shabby North Korean clothes, I waded across the river in my underpants as he signaled to me with a cigarette lighter. When I reached the other side, he was waiting for me and showed me the way. I was being extremely careful this time since I failed in my first mission in July in the same year. At that time, I was captured by the military police and was put in jail, but somehow managed to escape."
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